It's About TIME!

FAMILY VALUES at WORK: It’s About TIME! Why We Need Minimum Standards To Ensure A Family-Friendly Workplace

You shouldn’t have to risk your job to take care of your family, and you shouldn’t have to put your family at risk just to do your job. Unfortunately, millions of Americans face these terrible predicaments every day.

Published by the MultiState Working Families Consortium in conjunction with: ACORN | AFL-CIO | A Better Balance Center for Law and Social Policy | Moms Rising The National Partnership for Women and Families 9to5, National Association of Working Women National Employment Law Project Service Employees International Union | Take Care Net NO TIME to CARE: A [Mom and] Pop Quiz on Family-Friendly Workplaces

A Growing Tension Between Leave for New Babies or Family An Outlier Nation Work and Family Health Crises Of 177 countries worldwide, Percent of married U.S. mothers Percentage of private sector work- names of the four that with children under six in 1950 ers nationwide who are not cov- do not guarantee paid leave who were working or looking for ered by the Family and Medical and/or a substantial birth payment work: 12 Leave Act: 53 for parents to care for their newborn babies: Liberia, Papua Percentage of married U.S. Estimated number of workers who New Guinea, Swaziland, mothers with children under six were eligible for FMLA and need- United States who were working or looking for ed family or medical leave in work in 2000: 63 1999-2000 but did not take leave Of the nation’s included in the because they couldn’t afford to go World Economic Forum’s list of Share of U.S. workers under age unpaid: 2.7 million 20 most competitive economies, 60 who will have responsibilities to number that do not guarantee care for an elderly relative in the paid sick days to all workers: 1 next 10 years: nearly two- Few Protections for Workers (United States) thirds and Their Families Of those 20 most competitive Number of states in the United economies, number that guaran- Lack of Paid Sick Days States where workers are guarantee 31 or more days of paid sick teed a minimum number of Number of private sector workers time per year: 18 paid sick days: 0 in the United States who are not entitled to paid sick days: Number of states where it is illegal Affordable Family-Friendly 55 million (48 percent) for employers to fire a worker who Policy Options refuses to work “mandatory Number of private sector workers overtime”: 0 Estimated cost to employers of a who are not entitled to paid sick national law guaranteeing seven days to care for an ill child or Number of states in the United paid sick days to all full-time family member: 86 million States where it is illegal to employees working for employers (70 percent) discriminate against workers due with 15 or more workers: $20.2 to family responsibilities like being Percentage of low-income workers billion a parent or caring for an elderly who are not entitled to paid sick relative: 1 (Alaska) plus the Estimated benefit to employers days to care for a sick child: 89 District of Columbia from the same national paid sick days law by reducing job turnover, spread of illnesses, and lost productivity when workers come to work sick: $28.4 billion

For information on the sources cited in the [Mom and] Pop Quiz, Average amount deducted per visit the Family Values at Work page at www.9to5.org/familyvaluesatwork. month from the pay of California workers to support that state’s first-in-the-nation paid family and medical leave program: $2.25

Amount paid by California employers to fund the paid family and medical leave program: $0 FAMILY VALUES at WORK: It’s About TIME! Why We Need Minimum Standards To Ensure A Family-Friendly Workplace

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prologue: If We Care About Family Values, It’s Time to Value Families 2

Part One: Where Family Values Fear to Tread 5 … When You’re Caring for a Sick Child 5 … When You’re Caring for an Elderly Parent or an Ill or Disabled Family Member 7 … When You’re Coping with Your Own Health Problem 9 … When You’re Having a Baby 11 ... When Babies Arrive...Even More Problems 12 … When You’re Trying to Support Your Child’s School Success 14

Part Two: A Flexible, Family-Friendly Workplace: The Case for Government Action 17 Reason #1: Not Many Families These Days Have a Wife at Home Full-Time 17 Reason #2: The Lack of Time to Care Harms Families 19 Reason #3: It’s the Government’s Job 20 Reason #4: Flexibility Works for Families 22 Reason #5: Flexibility Also Pays Off for Employers and Taxpayers 24 Reason #6: Voters Want Action 27

Part Three: A Policy Agenda to Promote Flexible, Family-Friendly Workplaces 31 Defining a Minimum Standard for Workplace Flexibility — A Modest Proposal 31 Igniting the Engine of Reform 35 Conclusion: Why Not Protect and Support Our Nation’s Families? 37

Part Four: Resources for Action 38

About this Report inside back cover

A Note on Sources: In order to maximize the readability of this publication, annotations and source notes have not been included. However, a complete list of source citations is available online at www.9to5.org/familyvaluesatwork. Prologue If We Care About Family Values, It’s Time to Value Families.

We begin with a simple proposition: You shouldn’t have to risk your job to take care of your family, and you shouldn’t have to put your family at risk just to do your job.

And a stark reality: Millions of Americans face these terrible predicaments every day.

■ On August 10, 2005, the only day she could register her two kids for school for the upcoming academic year and sign them up for an after-school program, Vickie Underwood left work at the end of her regular 8-hour shift at an Atlanta-area printing plant, politely refusing her boss’ demand that she remain for three hours of “mandatory overtime.” Despite 20 years of service for the company, including dozens of previous mandatory overtime shifts, she was fired.

■ When Monalisa Bush’s 7-year-old son, Juliano, had a severe asthma attack in the fall of 2005, she left her desk at a Milwaukee- area cable company to rush him to the hospital. Following doctor’s orders, Bush stayed home two additional days to make sure the boy’s airways remained clear and he didn’t suffer an adverse reaction to his medications. When she returned to work, Bush, who had been on the job for eight months and wasn’t yet covered by family and medical leave laws, was suspended without pay for poor attendance. Vickie Underwood at home with her family. ■ By the time she became pregnant with her first child at age 34, Julia Panley- Pagetti was a successful New York City communications executive earning a nearly six-figure salary. After giving birth to a baby daughter, Panley-Pagetti went out on maternity leave. But within days her bosses were bombarding her with calls, emails, and work-related requests. Then, even before her maternity leave expired, Panley-Pagetti was laid off. Without her salary, the family lost their home and had to move into her grandfather’s apartment.

■ In May 2006, Alan Gales’ father suffered a heart attack. Gales rushed to the hospital, missing a scheduled shift at the Rock Tenn cardboard box factory in Conway, Arkansas. When he returned to work for his next shift, Gales was written up with an “occurrence” for bad work attendance. Nine months earlier, Gales had received another occurrence after getting into a serious car wreck on the way to work. Gales suffered a concussion in

Monalisa Bush with son, Juliano.

2 the crash, and recalls sitting in the ambulance, with a big knot on the side of his head, calling in to tell his supervisor he wouldn’t be in that night. Gales didn’t get a lot of sympathy: “I was told if I miss any more work, I could be fired,” he says.

■ When Monique Evans called her supervisor at a Wendy’s fast food franchise in Portland, Maine, to explain that her two-year-old had the flu, so she couldn’t come to work that day, the supervisor told her to come in anyway. When Evans refused, the supervisor cut her hours from 40 per week to 15 and demoted her to mopping floors and cleaning toilets. More than a month passed before a regional manager intervened and restored Evans back to her normal shifts.

Why are these workers — and countless more like them — forced to make wrenching, impossible choices between their jobs and their families? One reason is that our nation’s labor laws, written 70 years ago when most families had a working father and a stay-at-home mom, have never been augmented by complementary laws to address the changing needs of workers and their families. Monique Evans The second is that, in the absence of government rules, too few employers have adapted to the changing needs of workers. Half of all workers today, and three-fourths of low-income workers, don’t receive a single paid sick day. Few receive any paid leave to care for an elderly parent or newborn child. Many aren’t even permitted unpaid leave to deal with a family health emergency or bond with a newborn child. Millions can’t attend a parent-teacher conference without losing pay or risking their jobs. What can our nation do to protect workers and ensure their right to protect their families while doing Half of all workers today, and their jobs? We can pass new rules ensuring workers a minimum three-fourths of low-income level of paid sick days for routine illnesses and medical workers, don’t receive a single appointments, paid leave for longer-term family care, paid sick day. and flexibility to deal with personal and family health emergencies. And we can encourage employers and help them adopt family-friendly personnel policies that address the needs of workers while safeguarding the businesses’ bottom lines. And why must we do these things? Because if we believe in family values, it’s time to value families.

3 Despite 20 years of service at an Atlanta-area printing plant, Vickie Underwood, pictured here with her family, was fired in August 2005 for refusing her boss' last-minute demand to stay for a mandatory overtime shift. Part One: Where Family Values Fear to Tread

Whatever their political persuasion, their religious But for millions of American parents, particularly affiliation, their ideology, or their race, one thing those at the lower end of the income scale, such Americans agree on is the importance of family. common sense and common decency are anything Protecting the family, and promoting family val- but commonplace. ues, has been at the core of the conservative movement At the end of her lunch break at an Atlanta day for a generation. Liberal and progressive leaders, too, care center in August 2002, Stacey Calvin walked down have long been loud in their reverence for families. a flight of stairs from the room where she tended four- President Lyndon Johnson, who ushered in the Great year-olds to check in on her own two-year-old son, Society programs of the 1960s, once said: Jevon, who attended the same facility. “He was sitting “The family is the cornerstone of our society. More on the floor shaking,” Calvin recalls. “I grabbed a than any other force it shapes the attitude, the hopes, thermometer and measured his temperature. It was the ambitions, and the values of the child. And when 104.1.” Immediately, Calvin picked the boy up, carried the family collapses it is the children that are usually him toward the door and began dialing her supervisor’s damaged. When it happens on a massive scale the cell phone. community itself is crippled.” Historians Will and Ariel Durant were more suc- cinct: “The family is the nucleus of civilization.” To an alarming extent, America’s To an alarming extent, though, America’s embrace embrace of family values often ends of family values often ends at the workplace door. On the job, Americans can be and often are subject at the workplace door. to harsh and inflexible working conditions that threaten their families’ health and well-being. Unlike any other advanced democracy on earth, and even many Calvin’s boss told her to finish the last two hours developing nations, the United States does not guaran- of her shift — or else. “He said if I clocked out there tee its workers time off — including paid time — to was a chance I wouldn’t ever clock in again,” she weather an illness, tend to a sick child, care for a new- recalls. Despite the threat, Calvin kept right on walk- born baby or newly adopted child, or escort an elderly ing. “As a woman, I can’t take care of somebody else’s or disabled parent to a medical appointment. child if my child is there shaking and shivering on Rather, when push comes to shove, employers’ the floor.” The next day, the supervisor told Calvin he pursuit of profits usually trumps the individual work- was going to write her up for insubordination, but he er’s right to protect the health and safety of his or later backed down. “He told me, ‘I’m gonna let you her family. off this time,’” Calvin says. (As detailed later, Calvin was less fortunate when she became pregnant with When You’re Caring for a Sick Child… her second child.)

It seems like common sense, common decency. Monalisa Bush, the Milwaukee cable worker, got When your child gets sick, you ought to be able to take more than a warning: she was suspended without pay a day off or two, without losing pay, to care for the for leaving work to take her asthmatic son for emer- child and make sure the he or she is safe. At the very gency treatment and then taking off two additional least, you should be permitted to leave work for a cou- days to care for him. “Time-Warner’s concept was, if ple of hours to take your kid to the doctor. you get sick, you have to schedule it around your

5 grandmother could scramble home from work and get him to the emergency room. For many readers, these wrenching stories will come as a big surprise: According to public opinion surveys, 60 percent of Americans believe that workers are already guaranteed paid sick days by law. If a poll were taken in Bolivia or Botswana, or anywhere in Europe, this belief would be valid. In fact, 145 of 173 nations worldwide guarantee a minimum number of paid sick days to all workers. In 136 countries, workers are guaranteed at least one

In January 2007, Jodie Passmore’s son Joseph (left) broke his arm. He had to week of paid sick time per year. wait two hours for his grandmother to get him to the emergency room because But here in the United States, there is no Passmore’s manager at this Arkansas cardboard factory refused his request to law requiring employers to provide paid sick arrive late to work. days, and, barely half of all private sector workday,” Bush says. “They said it was a professional workers nationwide (52 percent) receive them. Among environment. You’re scheduled this day, so you need low-wage workers, the share receiving paid sick days is to be at work — no matter what… They seem to think just 21 percent. you can schedule your sick days.” Even when workers get paid sick days, they are For low-income parents, getting penalized for often permitted to use them only for their own health taking care of your kids is not unusual. In a 2002 sur- problems — not to care for a sick child or relative. The vey, researchers at Radcliffe Policy Institute and 9to5, Institute for Women’s Policy Research estimates that the national advocacy organization for working women, interviewed 97 low-income working parents CARING FOR A SICK CHILD in three cities: nearly half had been sanctioned at least Percentage of U.S. Workers — and Low-Income Workers — Authorized to Take Paid Sick Days to once by their employers — fired, suspended, denied a Care for a Sick Child promotion, or warned — for taking time off to meet 100 family needs. For some parents, the fear of being sanctioned — 90 or the inability to forego a day’s wages — can trump 80 the health needs of their children. 70 Before the start of a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift in 60 January 2007, Jodie Passmore called his boss to explain 50 that his son, Joseph, had just broken his arm playing in the yard. Passmore, who works at the same Arkansas 40 43% Total for all U.S. Workers 30% box factory as Alan Gales, the worker sanctioned for 30 36% 31% missing work following his father’s heart attack, asked 20 if he could take Joseph to the hospital without being 10 marked with an occurrence for bad attendance. No, 11% 0 Passmore was told, any lateness beyond 30 minutes Highest Second Third Lowest Income Income Income Income would be held against him. So Passmore went straight to work, and two painful hours passed before Joseph’s WAGE LEVEL Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research, No Time to Be Sick, 2004. 6 nearly 86 million workers — 70 percent of the U.S. on bed rest, she received short-term disability benefits workforce — are not covered by leave policies provid- through her employer, an insurance carrier. But days ing paid time off to care for a sick child. Only 11 per- before giving birth to a baby boy on June 19, Todd cent of low-income workers are authorized to take paid received a certified letter threatening her job if she sick days to care for a child. didn’t report back to work by July 7 — just 18 days One Maryland mom, whose husband is a U.S. into her child’s life. soldier serving in Iraq, recently told the Maryland Then in November 2006, Todd’s 58-year-old father General Assembly about the struggles she faced when was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of can- her one-year-old son suffered a series of fevers. Her cer that attacks the bone marrow. Quickly, Todd’s job with a federal contractor provided sick days if she father packed up his Arkansas home and moved to got ill. But it did not allow her to take sick days to the Oakland area, found a new doctor, and began care for her child. “Knowing that I could lose my job, weekly treatment sessions. Todd accompanied him I decided to take my son to day care even though he to the treatments, and she soon ran into trouble was still sick,” she told legislators. Soon she was sick with her new employer — a nonprofit agency that herself: “The guilt, the worries, and pain of not being supports small, home-based day care providers. (Todd’s able to fulfill my responsibilities as a parent caught previous job disappeared when the company moved up with me.” to another city.) Of course, it’s not only the parents who suffer when children are left home alone or sent sick to school or a child care center. The children suffer as “What am I supposed to do? He’s my well, as do classmates and teachers exposed to their dad and he needs me. [But I] have a contagious illnesses — and their family members who three-year-old to support so I need may be infected as well. Medical researchers have found that sick children my job.” have shorter recovery periods when their parents par- Oakland area mom, Corean Todd, whose employer threatened her ticipate in their care, as well as better vital signs and job when she took time off to assist her cancer-plagued father. fewer symptoms. The presence of parents has been shown to reduce hospital stays by 31 percent and to speed up recovery from outpatient procedures as well. “When my dad was diagnosed, I brought it to In one recent study, 40 percent of working parents my boss’ attention, and she was okay at first,” Todd reported that their job schedules had negatively affect- recalls. “She said her dad had cancer too.” But after ed their child’s health — either because they had the third absence, Todd was told that she needed to missed a medical appointment, or because they had request time off in advance. Todd did, requesting allowed an illness to worsen by failing to access leave each Tuesday for her dad’s treatments. But when timely care. her request came back, it had a big circle around the word, “denied.” When You’re Caring for an Elderly Parent Because she’d been at this job only nine months — or an Ill or Disabled Family Member… not a full year as required for protection under the fed-

Corean Todd, a single mom in Oakland, California, eral Family and Medical Leave Act — Todd’s employer could be a flagbearer for the sandwich generation: the was not obligated to offer her unpaid leave. A supervi- growing number of adults struggling to care not only sor told Todd that if she took off any additional time to for their own children, but also for aging parents. care for her father, she could be suspended or terminat- In 2003, Todd was placed on bed rest for the final ed. Soon after, Todd arrived 15 minutes late at work for two months before the birth of her first child. While 7 an unrelated reason. She was swiftly suspended for supports for enabling informal caregivers to continue three days without pay for excessive tardiness — even providing assistance.” though she’d never been warned for lateness. Unfortunately, the reality is often just the reverse. “What am I supposed to do?” Todd asks. “He’s my In a 2004 survey, more than 60 percent of employed dad and he needs me.” Then again, she adds, “I have caregivers reported that their caregiving responsibilities a three-year-old to support so I need my job.” had forced them to miss work, take a leave of absence, Rebecca Pipes’ employer, a transitional housing or cut back from full-time to part-time work schedules. agency in New Jersey, was more sympathetic when The Family and Medical Leave Act, enacted in she took off three months to care for her mother fol- 1993, allows workers to take up to 12 weeks of leave lowing a heart attack and stroke in 2005. But because per year to deal with a personal illness, bond with the agency couldn’t pay her for the time off, Pipes had a newborn child, or help care for an ill or disabled to put her wedding on hold and go into debt. Two relative. Since 1993, more than 50 million workers years later, she told state legislators, “I am still paying have taken job-protected leave under the FMLA law, off credit card debt from the months I lived without roughly 20 percent of them to care for a seriously ill any income.” spouse or parent. Nationwide, more than 44 million adults provide Yet, FMLA’s utility is limited by two critical gaps. unpaid care for an elderly, disabled, or chronically First, as Corean Todd learned, the law covers only ill family member or friend. Of these caregivers, 21 workers employed by companies employing 50 or more million work full-time and 5 million more work people and those who work at least 25 hours per week part-time. As America’s population ages, the share of and have been with their employer at least 12 months workers who must care for aging parents or other elder- — leaving more than half of the private sector work- ly relatives is rising rapidly. The U.S. Department of force unprotected. Second, the leave is entirely unpaid, Health and Human Services estimates that the number making it an unrealistic option for many workers. of informal caregivers will rise 85 percent between PAID SICK DAYS IN THE UNITED STATES 2000 and 2050. Percentage of Private Sector Workers in the U.S. For those facing illness, disability, or old age, the Covered by and Eligible for a Formal Paid Sick proximity and support of a family member can provide Days Policy, By Wage Level enormous comfort. Informal caregiving can also be a 80 financial lifesaver — both for families and for taxpay- 70 ers. The average cost of nursing home care today is 72%

$70,000 per year — a crippling sum for all but the most 60 62% Total for all U.S. Workers affluent families, and a big burden for taxpayers when 52% 50 the nursing home resident is poor enough to qualify 54% for Medicaid. 40 The high cost of nursing homes is one reason why 30 nearly four of every five people requiring long-term care remain at home. The vast majority in home-based 20 21% care rely exclusively on family and friends — rather 10 than formal care providers. “Family and other informal caregivers play a 0 Highest Second Third Lowest critical role in supplying the bulk of long-term care Income Income Income Income to disabled persons,” the Government Accountability WAGE LEVEL Office (GAO) noted in a 2002 report. The GAO urged Source: Heidi Hartmann, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Testimony Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, that “effective policy must create incentives and and Pensions, February 13, 2007.

8 According to a When You’re Coping With Your national survey in Own Health Problem… 2000, 78 percent of In May 1996, guests at the Hilton resort and casino the roughly 3.5 mil- in Reno, Nevada, began falling ill. Really ill. They vom- lion eligible workers ited, suffered diarrhea. Not just a few of them, but who needed but did more than 600. The victims included infants, children, not take family or and pregnant women. Scores were rushed to nearby medical leave said hospitals for intravenous fluids. Others collapsed, and they didn’t apply for one guest suffered a stroke. leave because they Where did this illness, later identified as a couldn’t afford to “norovirus,” come from? An investigation by the local lose their income. county health department and the U.S. Centers for Though she lives Dana Wilson lost her job with a Milwaukee Disease Control and Prevention traced the outbreak to insurance company in 2006 for taking on a tight budget, time off work to care for her ailing 77- the Hilton’s own employees. Milwaukee resident year-old father. Like many hotels and casinos, the Reno Hilton did Dana Wilson did not offer its workers any paid sick days. Moreover, that seek unpaid leave in 2006 after her 77-year-old father very month the Hilton had instituted a new attendance began suffering health problems — a cyst on his liver, policy assigning workers a demerit every time they stomach pains, breathing problems, headaches, and called in sick. New workers were to be terminated if other ailments. Wilson felt she needed to accompany they missed more than three days in an initial 120-day her father to his medical appointments. “He’s always probation period. The new rules also required workers, been there for me,” she says, “so whenever he needs many of them uninsured, to produce a doctor’s note me I’m there.” whenever they missed a workday due to illness. But her employer, a local insurance company, felt differently. “They basically told me it was your father or your job.” Just one of every seven food service In September, Wilson’s supervisor warned her not to miss any more work. The company’s Human workers (15 percent) has access to Resources department told Wilson that she didn’t yet paid sick days. qualify for FMLA, she recalls. “‘If you hang in there a little longer,’ they said, ‘it’ll be a year and then we can Once the outbreak began, Hilton managers help you.’” ordered workers to remain on the job even if they But Wilson was unable to “hang on.” Early one caught the virus. Some supervisors threatened to fire November morning, Wilson took her father to the employees who refused to keep working despite their hospital before work. He fell down in the entryway to symptoms. In all, 55 percent of the 365 employees the hospital and became disoriented, and Wilson who became infected continued to work during the stayed to take care of him. She never worked another outbreak — helping spread the illness to countless day for the company. more hotel guests. Before she could find a new job, Wilson was evict- While harsh attendance policies and the lack of ed from her apartment and fell far behind on her utili- paid sick days don’t often reap the havoc and suffering ty and car payments. “It makes no sense to me that experienced in Reno, the same dynamic plays out on a you have to be on the job for one year, and then smaller and less dramatic scale thousands of times unplanned events can happen in your life,” every day. she laments.

9 Nationwide, just 15 percent of food service workers SICK DAYS LAWS IN THE WORLD’S receive paid sick days. As a result, despite the dangers TEN MOST COMPETITIVE ECONOMIES of infecting their customers, countless waiters, cooks, Rank Country/ Sick Days More than busboys, and fast food workers routinely show up to Economy Required 10 Days/Year

their jobs sick. 1. Switzerland YES YES Carrie, an Applebee’s waitress in South Portland, 2. Finland YES YES Maine, was forced to work a double shift in December 2006, despite being sick. She pleaded with her manager 3. Sweden YES YES to let her go home at the end of her first shift, but he 4. Denmark YES YES

refused because the restaurant was short-staffed. Carrie 5. Singapore YES YES suspected that the supervisor didn’t believe she was 6 United States NO NO really ill, but that changed quickly when — half an 7. Japan YES YES hour into shift number two — she began vomiting in front of the customers. 8. Germany YES YES

Nor is the problem limited to the restaurant, 9. Netherlands YES YES

accommodation, and food service industries. Just 18 10. United Kingdom YES YES percent of construction workers and 22 percent of security guards get paid sick days. By contrast, more than Source: Jody Heymann, McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy, Testimony Before the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, four of every five workers in law, management, archi- February 13, 2007. tecture, or engineering get paid when they stay home ill. Overall, 42 percent of all employees in the United poverty line receive a single day of paid time off for States — and 48 percent of all private sector workers — illness, vacation, or holidays each year. do not receive paid sick day benefits. From 2003 until last year, Naomi Nakamura, an unmarried 20-something in San Francisco, worked in a local video shop that didn’t offer paid sick days. Stacy Colvin's doctor said she could “A lot of people showed up for work sick — I know I go back to work in her last month did,” says Nakamura, whose job also failed to provide health insurance. “I often spent my breaks lying down of pregnancy, but her boss refused, on the couch, popping over-the-counter drugs.” telling her that “women don’t know Once, Nakamura caught a sore throat from a co- their limitations.” worker. Knowing how much it could cost her, Nakamura held off going to the doctor for several days. When the illness persisted, Nakamura dragged herself Among those with the lowest earnings, only 21 to an emergency room and then took two days off — percent get paid sick days. Contrary to popular percep- unpaid — while the antibiotics took effect. After that, tions, this group is not made up of middle-class she headed back to the video store, still sick, because teenagers flipping hamburgers after school. Nearly half she couldn’t afford to miss any more work. of all low-wage workers nationwide are married or in a On another occasion, Nakamura ran a 103-degree committed relationship, and nearly half of low-wage fever for several days before visiting a doctor. The working women have at least one child at home under tests and medications cost her upwards of $3,000 — the age of 18. In 2004, the Urban Institute reported all of which went on her credit card. On top of that fewer than half of all workers living below the that, Nakamura was too sick to work and lost a full week’s wages.

10 When You’re Having a Baby... Then, when she was eight months pregnant, Calvin slipped and fell on the stairs before work. Calvin began “Bringing a new life into this world, my only con- to feel some cramping, but she got herself to work just cerns should be my child’s health: ‘What pediatrician 15 minutes late and worked the entire day. In the will I use? What will her name be?,’” muses Stacey evening, she visited the emergency room, and the doc- Calvin, the Atlanta child care worker. “Not, ‘Will I have tor told her to take a day off as a precaution. to put my unborn child’s health at risk because I can’t When Calvin did, her boss called and told her afford time off?’” not to work again until after her baby was born. A few months after defying her boss and leaving Calvin said she wanted to continue, she recalls, work to take her feverish son to the doctor, Calvin but he refused, telling her that “women don’t know became pregnant with her second child. Once again, their limitations.” family values ended at the workplace door. Calvin’s suspension violated the Pregnancy “It was touch and go the whole pregnancy,” she Discrimination Act, which requires that expectant says. First, the center director told Calvin to schedule mothers and their doctors, not employers, decide her prenatal check-ups in non-work hours. The only what’s in the mother’s and child’s best interests. Yet, problem was, Calvin worked from 9:00 to 6:30 every because the employer claimed to have fewer than 15 day, and her doctor’s office was open daily only from employees, Calvin was not protected. Instead, she 8:30 to 5:30. “I knew I was risking my job when I found herself out of a job, with no income, with a scheduled appointments during work,” she says. “I had child at home and one on the way. an hour for lunch, which I had to use to run — and I do mean run — to my doctor.”

11 Calvin’s tribulations illustrate the enormous but When Babies Arrive... Even More often camouflaged cost incurred by many American Problems working women — financially, professionally, and For Tricia Gooding, as for many new mothers, the emotionally — when they become pregnant and bear a difficulties continued after childbirth. “I was told that if child. Even for those employed by firms large enough I did not come back as soon as possible my job would to be covered by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act — be at risk,” Gooding recalls. “My pregnancy was difficult and the Family and Medical Leave Act — the legal pro- and because of that I was left with a lot of physical dis- tections for pregnant workers remain strikingly weak. comfort.” Nonetheless, she returned to work just three ■ Unless she qualifies for and is willing to accept unpaid weeks after giving birth. “Despite the pain I was in,” she leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, there is no says, “I again did not call into work sick for fear of los- law to prevent an employer from firing a worker who cannot ing my job all together.” fulfill all the responsibilities of her job due to pregnancy. Had Gooding been aware of her rights, she could have requested job-protected maternity leave under the By the time Tricia Gooding became pregnant in Family and Medical Leave Act, but the leave would 2000, she’d been working for the Portland (ME) Press have been unpaid — a loss of income Gooding and Herald for going on 20 years. She began delivering her husband couldn’t afford. newspapers at age 11. At 19, she became a Circulation In other nations, such a predicament would be Helper responsible for training carriers, mapping deliv- unthinkable. With the exception of Australia, every ery districts, and handling other managerial tasks. other advanced nation on earth — and virtually every Though Gooding says she usually worked at least 40 less-developed nation as well — offers new mothers hours per week, the paper classified her as a part-time (and fathers too in many nations) months of paid leave employee, leaving her ineligible for paid sick days and following the birth of a new child. And even in other benefits. Australia’s case, the exception proves the rule. While new Australian parents don’t receive paid leave per se, More than 60 percent of working they are entitled to 52 weeks of job-protected leave, plus a one-time government-funded maternity pay- mothers return to work in less than ment worth $3,600 (tax free). 12 weeks, and more than half of Here in the United States, parents are guaranteed them don’t receive any pay during no such maternity benefit, and only 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave if they’re lucky to be among the their maternity leaves. roughly one-half of U.S. workers both covered and eligible under the Family and Medical Leave Act. As with pregnancy, even those covered by FMLA often suffer. The lack of benefits became critical when Gooding developed gestational diabetes, a pregnancy-related ■ If a worker takes leave during her pregnancy — either condition. “I had a tough time and was sick a lot,” she because the physical demands of her job become too taxing says, “but I took very few days off from work for fear of or to cope with a medical complication — she may have no losing my job.” Six months into her pregnancy, right to even a single day of maternity leave. Gooding’s doctor ordered her to limit herself to light Amber Walker, an Iowa truck driver whose job duty. But instead of reducing the physical demands of required lifting heavy crates and boxes, was forced into Gooding’s work, the paper instead cut her hours in unpaid leave during pregnancy when her employer half. Because she and her husband were short of refused to assign her to light duty. The firm provided money, Gooding had to work right up to her due date. Walker a total of 18 weeks of unpaid leave — six more

12 weeks than required under FMLA. But the leave period Americans: three weeks of vacation, sick days, and ended soon after the baby was born. Walker was fired eight weeks of paid maternity leave after a caesarian from her job just six days after giving birth. birth, plus up to three months of additional unpaid leave to bond with a new child. ■ When a baby is born prematurely or has other health But even with this generous benefit package, problems, no law requires employers to provide any paid Maudsley struggled. Because the baby would need her leave for the mother (or father) or to provide unpaid leave when he left the hospital, Maudsley went back to work beyond the standard 12-week period stipulated in the just eight weeks after the birth, in order to save her Family and Medical Leave Act. paid maternity leave. That left her scrambling between On a Sunday morning in December 2005, just six the office and hospital at least twice a day. “I found it months pregnant, Holly Maudsley woke with a really stressful,” she recalls. headache. The discomfort worsened during the day, When the baby finally left the hospital, Maudsley and that afternoon Maudsley’s husband John drove her began three months of maternity leave — eight weeks to the emergency room. Doctors diagnosed her with of it paid. But the family would have faced another HELLP syndrome, a pregnancy-related condition that crisis at the end of that period had they lived anywhere can endanger both mother and baby, and by 9:00 p.m. but California, which passed a law in 2002 providing they performed an emergency C-section. The baby paid leave for workers to bond with a new baby or weighed just one pound, seven ounces. He was taken care for an ill or disabled relative — the first such law straight to Neonatal Intensive Care, where he would in the nation. spend his first four months of life. Funded through worker contributions to the state’s Maudsley, a longtime employee of the 3M temporary disability program, the program offers 60 Corporation, gets far better leave benefits than most percent of a worker’s salary for up to six weeks. The

Servants, Masters, and the Unbalanced Scales of American Justice

Why do workers so often find themselves powerless against their employers when they seek time off to convalesce from an illness or to deal with a family health crisis? The answer can be traced in part to the year 1877, when a legal scholar named Horace Wood penned an essay that has since become the bedrock of American employment law. In the essay, entitled Treatise on the Law of Master and Servant, Wood invented an entirely new legal concept of “at-will employment,” which was quickly adopted across the nation and has been interpreted by courts to allow employers to fire any worker at any time “for good cause, for no cause, or even for cause morally wrong.” Thus, at-will employment shields non-unionized employers from the basic responsibilities of good faith and honest dealing that are upheld in virtually every other area of contract law. Consider the case of Joanna Upton, a single mother in Cape Cod who took a new job in the early 1990s managing an office supplies store. Before taking the job, Upton was assured that her workdays would span from 8:15 to 5:30, with overtime required perhaps once or twice per month. In fact, the job required Upton to stay until 6:30 or 7:00 p.m. each night, and – once the store was taken over by new owners a few months later – Upton was ordered to work until 9 or 10 p.m. every night, plus every Saturday, for at least several months. When Upton refused, citing the need to care for her son, she was fired. Upton filed a suit against the employer for wrongful termination. When the case reached the Massachusetts Supreme Court in August 1997, the justices granted summary judgment in favor of the employer, dismissing Upton’s suit. The court expressed sympathy for workers “reconciling parental responsibilities with the demands of employment,” but ruled that parents had no rights to hold employers accountable “in the at-will employment context.”

13 Maudsleys’ budget was stretched thin already, and the and hip fractures as well as breast, ovarian, and cervical paid leave program provided the financial cushion cancers. Yet U.S. courts have repeatedly rejected dis- needed for Maudsley’s husband to take off an addition- crimination claims made by new mothers against al six weeks in June and July 2006. employers who prohibited them from using a breast “Because the safety net was there, we were able to pump on the job. make the choices to be with him,” Maudsley says. “It In September 2006, the New York Times reported was incredible. Once [my husband] took the time to be the experience of Tacoma dental hygienist Marlene with him, I could see a marked difference. He was able Warfield. Soon after she began bringing a breast pump to form that bond.” to work, her boss wore a Halloween costume consisting of a silver box with a cutout labeled “insert breast ■ Despite the proven health advantages associated with here.” In addition to mocking her with this breast breastfeeding, no law requires employers to accommodate pump costume, the dentist told Warfield to stop mothers who need to pump milk at the workplace in order bringing her pump to the office. She soon quit the to sustain breastfeeding. job and complained to a local human rights agency, Medical research has clearly established that breast- but she learned quickly that none of the dentist’s fed children are less susceptible to allergies, diarrhea actions were illegal. and other digestive ailments, respiratory infections, ■ Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and juvenile diabetes. Perhaps the most important gap facing parents of For mothers, breastfeeding lowers risks for osteoporosis newborns is the lack of any right to paid leave following childbirth.

Overall, less than half of all employed new moth- “My parent didn’t come to my sixth, ers — and just one-third of new mothers without any seventh, or eighth grade award college education — receive any pay at all during their maternity leaves. Among workers who become preg- night,” he wrote. “The only day my nant (or whose spouses become pregnant), only about parent came to my school was when one in twelve continues to receive a salary from their my mother first registered me. That’s employer while on maternity or paternity leave. Two in five working women are covered by short-term disabili- the first and last time my parent came ty policies (which typically provide new mothers with to school…. My mom couldn’t come the equivalent of three-to-six weeks of their normal to my award night because of her job. income while recovering after childbirth).

If they find out that she is not there When You’re Trying to Support Your she would be fired from her work…. Child’s School Success… I can’t remember the last time my “The evidence is consistent, positive, and convinc- mom came to my school for some- ing,” concludes a recent 241-page synthesis of research on parents’ impact on children’s educational success. thing, good or bad.” “Families have a major influence on their children’s

Qasim Ghulam-Ali, an Afghanistani immigrant who attends 8th achievement in school and through life,” the authors grade in DeKalb County, Georgia reported. No matter their income or background, the study found, students with involved parents, were more likely to:

14 ■ earn higher grades and test scores, and enroll ultimately reinstated by her employer. But not until a in higher-level programs year had passed and a year’s wages were lost.) ■ be promoted, pass their classes, and earn credits Qasim Ghulam-Ali, an Afghanistani immigrant ■ attend school regularly who attends 8th grade in DeKalb County, Georgia, ■ have better social skills, show improved behavior, recently won a writing contest for his essay lamenting and adapt well to school his mother’s inability to visit his school and participate ■ graduate and go on to postsecondary education in his education. However, despite our nation’s stated goal to “leave “My parent didn’t come to my sixth, seventh, or no child behind,” many parents are routinely prevent- eighth grade award night,” he wrote. “The only day ed from participating in parent-teacher conferences my parent came to my school was when my mother and other school events by employers. first registered me. That’s the first and last time my Or like Vickie Underwood — the Atlanta-area par- parent came to school…. My mom couldn’t come ent who was dismissed for refusing a mandatory over- to my award night because of her job. If they find time shift in order to enroll her kids in school and out that she is not there she would be fired from her after-school programs — parents are forced to put their work…. I can’t remember the last time my mom came jobs on the line to meet their children’s educational to my school for something, good or bad.” needs. (After filing a union grievance, Underwood was

Child care worker Stacey Calvin’s supervisor threatened to write her up for insubordination in 2002 when she left work to take her son, Jevon (right), to the doctor with a 104-degree temperature.

15 After their baby boy arrived three months early in 2005 weighing one pound, seven ounces, John and Holly Maudsley took advantage of California’s first-in-the-nation paid family leave law to take extra time 1 off to care for him. Part Two: A Flexible, Family-Friendly Workplace — The Case for Government Action

As these disturbing examples make clear, many guaranteed under the FLSA. These rules should ensure workers in the United States are routinely denied the working adults at least a handful of paid days off each time and flexibility they need to take care of their year to handle routine illnesses and also the right to families while doing their jobs. take leave or reduce work hours temporarily when These stories challenge our deep-seeded beliefs in faced with major life events like the birth of a new family and in fairness. Taken together, they underscore child, a diagnosis of cancer, or the tragedy of an elderly the reality that while reconciling the demands of work parent with Alzheimer’s. and family has become an urgent challenge for most For the six reasons detailed below, IT’S ABOUT households, and a harrowing tightrope walk for many, TIME for our government to step in and update the our nation’s laws have not kept pace. social contract between employers and workers. IT’S The American family has experienced a seismic ABOUT TIME to rewrite our laws in ways that acknowl- cultural shift over the past half century as an unprece- edge the needs of families and address the realities of dented wave of women — and especially mothers — our new, dual-income workforce. moved out of the home and into the workforce. Most of this shift has occurred since World War II. Yet Family and medical leave protection America’s central labor law remains the Fair Labor Standards Act — written in 1938. remains an empty promise for those

■ As it has for 70 years, the Fair Labor Standards who cannot afford to forego their Act requires employers to pay hourly workers time paychecks. and a half for overtime; but no law stops employers from demanding that a worker remain for mandatory overtime — even if the worker, a new REASON #1: Not Many Families These mother, is given just an hour’s notice and her Days Have a Wife At Home Full-Time infant is sitting in a day care center that’s about to shut its doors. The entry of married women and mothers into the workforce has radically altered America’s economy and ■ Likewise, the Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits reduced the time available to take care of family needs. employers from hiring child laborers; but no law prevents employers from turning teenage children The numbers speak for themselves. At the turn into unpaid child care workers by refusing even to of the last century, in 1900, less than 6 percent of all consider a working parent’s request to start his married women in the United States were in the labor workday early, so he can be home with his force. By 1950, that figure had climbed to 24 percent. younger children after school. In 2000, labor force participation among married women was 61 percent. ■ No federal — and only one state — law ensures The shift has been particularly dramatic for mar- paid leave when a worker’s child or elder parent ried women with children, especially those with young falls ill and she needs time off to provide care. children. Back in 1950, just 12 percent of married What workers in the United States want today, mothers with children under age six participated in the what families need, are additional employment laws labor force. By 2005, three-fifths of married moms with that complement the basic workplace protections young children — 60 percent — were part of the labor

17 force. From 1975 to 2001, the average number of hours Pent-up demand among women for career opportunity worked nationwide doubled among married mothers and economic independence. Through most of American with children under six. history, women were subjected to pervasive and puni- Meanwhile, the prevalence of single-parent fami- tive workplace discrimination. They were segregated lies has mushroomed from 13 percent of all families into low-paying professions (teaching, nursing, cleri- with children in 1970 to 32 percent in 2003. Single cal), paid less than men for the same or similar work, parents — mostly mothers — are also working many and expected to leave the workforce as soon as they more hours today than in past years. had children. Often, getting married was enough to Why the increase in women’s work participation? disqualify a woman from employment. As these barri- The trend has been powered primarily by two factors: ers receded, many more women sought to develop

Wanted: Quality Part-Time Jobs In July 2007, the Pew Research Center released a survey asking a representative sample of U.S. adults “what would be the ideal situation for you—working full-time, part-time, or not at all outside the home?” The response was striking: half of all mothers with children under 18 identified part-time work as the ideal option, including one-third of non-working moms and half of moms working full-time. Only 20 percent of mothers – and just 29 percent of mothers employed full-time – called full-time work their ideal option. Yet nationwide, only one-fourth of working mothers – and just one-sixth of mothers overall – work part-time. PART-TIME PENALTY Percentage or Full-Time and Part-Time Workers Why the disparity? Two reasons. Receiving Paid Time Off and Other Benefits First, part-time workers are paid substantially less and 100 receive substantially fewer benefits than full-time workers for 90 Full-Time Workers Part-Time Workers the same work. After adjusting for personal factors such as 80 age, experience, and local wage scales, part-time workers 70 69% 66% earn $3.97 per hour less than full-time workers. For women, 60 62% this part-time wage penalty represents 15 percent of their 50 salaries. In addition, part-time workers are far less likely 40 than full-time workers to receive health insurance coverage 30 (19 percent vs. 69 percent) or pension benefits (25 percent 20 25% 20% 19% vs. 66 percent) through their employers. 10 Second, few part-time opportunities are available in 0 Paid Sick Health Employer- many occupational fields. Of the ten leading industries Days Insurance Sponsored employing women part-time, nine pay less than $10 per Coverage Pension

Sources: For Paid Sick Days, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, No Time to Be hour (and seven pay less than $8.00 per hour). Meanwhile, Sick, 2004, For Health Coverage and Pensions, Economic Policy Institute, Share of Workers in ‘Nonstandard’ Jobs Declines., 2003. the Institute for Women’s Policy Research has found that among professionals and managers employed part-time, the vast majority “do not receive generous salaries or pensions or health insurance benefits… [meaning that] part-time work involves an enormous financial sacrifice.” Likewise, men are less likely to work reduced hours, and participate more fully in caregiving, when the wage and benefit penalties of part-time work are severe. In a 2002 survey, the Families and Work Institute found that among all employees who would like to work part-time but do not – men and women – 80 percent said they could not afford to go part-time and/or they would not be allowed to do so. 18 their talents and pursue careers. Meanwhile, as notions addiction have declined substantially over the past of gender equality spread, fewer and fewer women were generation, while academic achievement has held willing to remain dependent on their husbands finan- steady or increased modestly. cially or — in the face of a rapidly rising divorce rate — Clearly though, American workers are feeling to risk financial ruin should their marriages ever fail. increasing stress as they attempt to manage work and Economic necessity. Simply put, women’s increased family. In 2002, the Families and Work Institute com- work and earnings have been the only avenue available pleted a nationwide study involving some 3,500 for millions of families to maintain or improve their American workers — replicating a similar survey con- standard of living over the past 35 years. After rising ducted 25 years earlier. Not only did the number of rapidly in the decades after the Second World War, the dual-earner families increase, but dual-income couples typical income of an American man stalled in the in 2002 also worked substantially more hours than 1970s. In fact, the median inflation-adjusted annual dual-income couples in 1977. In fact, all employees income of American men today is no higher than it were working longer hours, working faster and harder, was in 1973. Women, on the other hand, are earning enduring longer commutes, and bringing more work 80 percent more than they did in the early 1970s — home from the job. Not surprisingly, workers with fam- the result of more women working more hours and ilies reported significantly more interference between earning higher wages. Today, the pocketbook realities their jobs in 2002 and their family lives than did simi- of most families dictate that the woman of the house lar employees in 1977. has to earn a paycheck. On the job, Americans can be and How to Care for the Children? often are subject to harsh and inflexi- Given these societal forces, the dramatic increase in women’s labor force participation was probably ble working conditions that threaten inevitable — and in many ways beneficial. However, their families’ health and well-being. this flood of women into the workforce has created an obvious challenge for parents: how to provide all of the care, support, and supervision their children need. REASON #2: The Lack of Time In 1960, before the women’s work revolution hit to Care Harms Families full stride, 70 percent of children lived in homes with at least one stay-at-home parent. Today, only 30 per- When you look closely at workers most affected by these cent of children have a stay-at-home parent. The work-related time pressures — and especially those changes have been especially acute for infants. In the whose employers don’t provide paid time off or flexibility early 1960s, one of every seven mothers giving birth to — it’s apparent that many families are suffering significant their first child (14 percent) was working within six harm. months. In the 1990s, more than half of all first-time The most powerful evidence of this harm comes moms were working six months after childbirth. In from the wrenching but all-to-common experiences of fact, among women employed during pregnancy today, workers — like those detailed in the previous chapter nearly two-thirds (63 percent) return to work in less — who are forced to choose between their jobs and than 12 weeks. their families. Contrary to the dire predictions of some critics, the In addition, the toxic combination of increased dramatic increase in mothers’ work time has not dam- work hours and inflexible workplaces has created sever- aged the well-being of this nation’s children. Indeed, al disturbing trends: problem behaviors such as delinquency and drug

19 ■ Newborn children whose mothers return to work and their families, “For low wage workers, adjust- quickly have worse health outcomes than other new- ing one’s work schedule often means leaving one’s borns. Children whose mothers take less than 12 current job and finding another.” weeks leave after childbirth are less likely to receive ■ Parents who must leave their children unsupervised regular medical check-ups, less likely to complete after school are far more likely to suffer psychological their recommended immunization schedule, and problems when employers don’t allow them to adjust less likely to breastfeed than children whose moth- their schedules or make family-related phone calls on ers remain home for 12 weeks or longer. These the job. Among parents whose kids are home alone children are also more likely to exhibit problem after school, those who work in inflexible work- behaviors when they reach four years of age. places are 4.5 times more likely to suffer low psy- ■ The pervasive lack of flexibility faced by many chological well-being than workers in flexible low-wage workers — and single mothers especially — workplaces. frequently results in lost income and even lost jobs. Despite the dramatic change in America’s work- Half of all working mothers nationwide — and force, however, and despite these serious hazards facing nearly two-thirds of low-income working mothers America’s families, our government has as yet taken lit- — lose pay whenever they stay home with a sick tle action. child. According to Corporate Voices for Working Families, an organization funded by large corporations to examine the needs of entry-level workers REASON #3: It’s the Government’s Job History has shown repeatedly that setting minimum standards to protect workers is a legitimate and necessary role of government.

Consider the list of practices that were once commonplace in our society, considered normal, often jus- tified as essential to our nation’s economic health.

■ Slavery: In 1860, just before the outbreak of the Civil War, nearly 4 million men, women, and children of African descent were living and working in servitude within the United States.

■ Child Labor: As of 1900, 1.75 million children between the ages of 10 and 15 nationwide were working in farms, factories, or other workplaces.

■ Hazardous Workplaces (without safety regulations or guaranteed compensation for injured workers): In 1900, an estimated 2 million industrial workers were injured on the job nationwide, and 35,000 workers died in industrial accidents.

■ Sweatshop Labor Conditions (with no minimum wage or overtime rules): In 1910, the typical garment After missing one day of work with pregnancy complications, Stacey Calvin’s employer told her not to come back to work until worker in New York City’s Lower East Side worked she’d given birth to her daughter, Jaela, leaving her without income 56 hours per week and earned a grand total of $6 for two months. per week (about ten cents per hour). 20 ■ Employment Discrimination Against Racial Minorities: the Nixon administration created the Occupational As of 1940, three-fourths of all African-American Safety and Health Administration to establish and workers (but only one-eighth of white workers) in enforce national workplace safety standards. Washington, D.C., were employed as domestics, serv- Today, it is rare to hear anyone argue that govern- ice workers, or laborers; meanwhile only one-eighth ment intervention wasn’t necessary and long overdue of African-American workers (but two-thirds of white in all of these cases. Yet, at the time, these reforms were workers) were employed as clerks, salesmen, man- vehemently opposed by many business leaders and agers, proprietors, or professionals. public officials. Congressman Arthur Phillip Lamneck, an Ohio Democrat, denounced one proposed reform ■ Employment Discrimination Against Women: A this way: 1938 report from the U.S. Department of Labor found that in clothing, hosiery, candy, cardboard, “[This bill] would create chaos in business never yet known and baked goods factories throughout the nation, to us… It sets an all-time high in crackpot legislation. Let “women in occupations requiring considerable skill me make clear that I am not opposed to the [goals of or dexterity were paid less than men in the least reform]… What I do take exception to is any approach to a skilled jobs.” solution of this problem which is utterly impractical and in operation would be much more destructive than constructive Over time, as these practices grew more and more to the very purposes it is designed to serve.” dissonant with public values, each was prohibited by government (though, sadly, none has been fully eradicated). Lamneck, made the argument in 1937 against pro- Slavery was banned with the Emancipation posed rules outlawing child labor and establishing a Proclamation. The Fair Standards Labor Act of 1938 minimum wage. Seventy years later, these humane stan- outlawed most forms of child labor, and it eliminated dards clearly haven’t destroyed the American economy. most sweatshops, too, by establishing the minimum When it was first proposed in the late 1980s, the wage and requiring overtime pay for non-supervisory Family and Medical Leave Act also sparked vehement workers. From 1911 through 1921, 46 states passed opposition from business — as well as two vetoes from worker compensation laws to protect workers injured the first President Bush after Congress passed FMLA on the job. (By 1948, every state had such a law.) The legislation in 1990 and again 1992. In a veto state- Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned discrimination on the ment, Bush wrote, “I strongly object… to the Federal basis of race and gender. And in 1970, Congress and Government mandating leave polices for America's

The Union Advantage How can workers gain greater access to paid sick days, paid leave, and other forms of flexibility on the job? One of the best ways is to join a union. Many union contracts include provisions for paid family leave, child care benefits, and flexible work schedules. And with a union contract, workers cannot be fired without just cause. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ National Compensation Survey, 60 percent of union workers had short-term disability insurance through their employers in 2006, versus only 35 percent of nonunion workers – meaning they’re more likely to be compensated while out on medical leave to recover from an illness or injury, or on family leave following the birth of a new child. Union workers are also more likely than nonunion workers to have paid sick leave, paid holidays, paid vacations, paid personal leave, and employer assistance for child care. Unions especially raise the living standards and access to flexibility and paid time off for low-wage workers, who are the least likely to receive paid sick leave or family leave from their employers.

21 Avoiding a Race to the Bottom According to Heather Boushey, senior economist It simply defies our nation’s values to continue permit- for the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the ting employers to deny workers even a small number of sick lack of strong government work rules has allowed a days each year. perverse form of competition to flourish in U.S. labor It defies our values to let employers prevent workers markets – a “race to the bottom,” she calls it – among from taking a day off to care for a sick child or two hours employers afraid to provide more flexibility for workers to get a prenatal check-up or attend a parent-teacher out of fear that they will lose out to competitors who conference. treat their workers more harshly. It defies our values to withhold paid leave (or even “Relying on the goodwill of employers has meant unpaid leave in many cases) for workers to care for a new that many workers, especially low-wage workers, do not baby or tend a seriously ill family member. have access to any kind of flexibility,” writes Boushey. Likewise, it defies our nation’s values to continue granting employers the unbridled right to fire, suspend, Government intervention would create a level playing and threaten workers “at will” without any regard for the field, she argues. “Employers who offer workplace flexi- well-being of families. bility should not bear the full costs of implementing As the saying goes, “there oughta be a law.” good workplace practices, while other employers are allowed to ignore their employees’ needs.” REASON #4: Flexibility Works for Families

employers and work force… We must ensure that Even small doses of flexibility on the job make a large Federal policies do not stifle the creation of new jobs, difference in workers’ ability to manage work and family. nor result in the elimination of existing jobs.” In 2002, the Families and Work Institute conduct- Since becoming law in 1993, however, FMLA has ed a national workforce survey asking workers how clearly not been a drain on American job creation. Rather, the United States experienced rapid job creation FLEXIBILITY WORKS: from 1993 through 2000. And in two national employ- Impact of Flexibility on er surveys conducted since the passage of FMLA, 90 Workers’ Mental Health percent of employers reported that the law has had a 50 Percentage of Workers Exhibiting neutral or positive effect on both their businesses’ Very Good Mental Health growth and their profits. 40 The far more serious criticisms of FMLA have been its failure to cover nearly half of all workers nation- 30 33% wide, its failure to guarantee any wage replacement so that cash-strapped workers needing family or medical 24% leave can afford to use it, and its narrow definition of 20 family that excludes coverage for workers to care for 17% grandparents, grandchildren, parents-in-law, domestic 10 partners, or siblings. Indeed, those weaknesses in the FMLA, combined with the harsh treatment of working families docu- 0 Low Moderate High mented in the previous chapter, have created yet Flexible Flexible Flexible Workplace Workplace Workplace another deep divide between the realities of the work-

place and our values regarding basic fairness. Note: Workplace flexibility ratings are based on the availability of 11 specific work arrangements, including flex-time and Given that few families have a stay-at-home parent to access to paid sick days to care for a sick child. care for newborn babies or tend sick children or assist dis- Source: When Work Works: A Status Report on Workplace Flexibility, Families and Work Institute, 2004. abled elders… 22 much access they had to flexible workplace policies like Looking at thousands of low-wage workers paid sick days, flex-time, freedom to work from home employed by large U.S. corporations, Corporate Voices on occasion, and options for working part-time. The for Working Families found that those in flexible work- survey also asked workers questions to determine their ing environments had 45 percent less stress and burnout levels of work-life conflict, mental health, and overall than workers in inflexible work settings and were 50 per- life satisfaction. cent more committed to their jobs. “The presence or The correlations were striking. Workers whose absence of flexibility may be more critical for lower wage employers offer fewer flexible work arrangements were workers than other employees because [it] can mean the nearly twice as likely as workers in more flexible work- difference between keeping or losing one’s job, econom- places to suffer high levels of work-family conflict. ic security, or poverty,” the study found. Workers in less flexible workplaces were also far more Jody Heymann of Harvard and McGill Universities likely to suffer symptoms of poor mental health and far found that young, low-income women with paid sick less likely to report high levels of overall life satisfac- days were five times less likely than similar parents tion. (See chart on p.22.) without sick days either to leave their child home Likewise, a study of parents employed by JP Morgan alone sick or take them sick to school or day care Chase Bank, the financial services conglomerate, found where they might infect other children as well as that parents were half as likely to experience high stress teachers and other staff. “Availability of paid leave,” over leaving their children home unsupervised after Heymann found, “was the key determinant in these school when they could: adjust their schedules to deal parental choices” about whether to stay home with a with family matters; leave work at a regular time each sick child. day; rely on their supervisor to be understanding about Working with national data, Heather Boushey cal- family matters; make and take telephone calls at work to culated that women with no more than a high school deal with family matters; or collect information or refer- education who received pay while on leave following rals at work on local after-school programs. the birth of their first child had higher earnings and a

Family-Friendly Workplace Flexibility: Two Win-Win Stories

FIRST TENNESSEE NATIONAL CORPORATION. In the mid-1990s, First Tennessee National, a mid-sized regional bank chain, scrapped many of its scheduling procedures and attendance rules. Instead, First Tennessee began allowing workers to customize their schedules in consultation with their co-workers and supervisors, and the company put 1,000 of its managers through three-and-a-half days of training on work-family balance. The results, Business Week magazine reported, were remarkable. Supervisors rated by their employees as supportive of work-family balance retained employees twice as long as the bank average and retained 7 percent more of their retail customers. After making these changes, the company realized a 55 percent gain in profits in just two years.

SAS INSTITUTE. Over the past 30 years, the SAS computer software company has grown from a fledgling start-up with 5 workers and $138,000 in annual revenues to an industry giant with 10,000 employees worldwide and revenues of $2 billion. All the while, SAS has offered its workers a generous benefit package and the flexibility they need to care for their families: unlimited paid sick days, at least three weeks of paid vacation per year, plus paid family and medical leave. The standard work week at SAS is just 35 hours per week, and employees are free to take time during workdays to attend medical appointments or their children’s school events. The annual job turnover rate is just 3 to 4 percent – versus an industry average of 22 percent – saving SAS an estimated $60 to $80 million per year. Perhaps most telling, despite the volatility of the high tech sector, SAS has turned a profit every year since 1976.

23 higher employment rate than similar women who FLEXIBILITY WORKS: received no pay. Impact of Flexibility on Workers’ Job Satisfaction Overall, reports the Families and Work Institute, 80 Percentage of Workers Reporting “The importance of supportive work-life policies and High Levels of Job Satisfaction practices … is clear — when they are available, employ- 70 ees exhibit more positive work outcomes, such as job 67% 60 satisfaction, commitment to employer, and retention, as well as more positive life outcomes, such as less 50 interference between job and family life, less negative 47% 40 spillover from job to home, greater life satisfaction, and better mental health.” 30 However, flexibility programs are not all alike. In 20 23% many workplaces, workers perceive that shifting to a flexible schedule will dramatically reduce their chances 10 of a promotion or raise, or even put their jobs at risk. 0 In other cases, alternative schedules offered by employ- Low Moderate High Flexible Flexible Flexible ers don’t actually allow workers to adjust their sched- Workplace Workplace Workplace ules around family needs. Real flexibility expands Note: Workplace flexibility ratings are based on the availability workers’ choices, giving them some control over work of 11 specific work arrangements, including flex-time and access to paid sick days to care for a sick child. schedules without penalizing their compensation, Source: When Work Works: A Status Report on Workplace career advancement, or job security. Flexibility, Families and Work Institute, 2004.

Flexibility Also Pays Off REASON #5: Second are indirect costs resulting from lost productivi- for Employers and Taxpayers ty, lost sales, lost customers, and lower morale among There is strong evidence that rather than burdening remaining employees. employers, offering paid sick days and other forms of How much can turnover cost employers? All told, the workplace flexibility actually boosts profits. Workplace costs of replacing a salaried worker average 150 percent flexibility also benefits taxpayers and society as a whole. of the employee’s annual salary. For hourly workers the cost is lower, but still substantial. The Sasha Surveys repeatedly find that workers with a lot Corporation, a consulting firm, has reviewed 15 studies of flexibility on the job — paid sick days, flex-time, estimating the cost to replace an $8 per hour employ- permission to take time off during the day to address ee. The average for the 10 lowest estimates was $5,506 family matters, freedom from mandatory overtime — per worker. Harvard Business Review estimates that Sam’s have far greater job satisfaction than workers with little Club — Wal-Mart’s warehouse shopping subsidiary — or no flexibility. They’re also far more likely to stay in spends an average of $12,167 to replace each lost their current jobs. (See chart this page.) employee and that the company, which offers minimal That’s not just good for workers: it’s a boon as well flexibility for workers, loses 44 percent of its employees for employers. every year — resulting in $612 million per year in Each time an employer has to replace a lost worker, annual employee turnover costs. That compares to just it faces two distinct sets of costs. First are direct costs to $244 million for its main rival Costco, which provides advertise, recruit, interview, hire, process, orient, train, far more workplace flexibility (as well as higher wages and supervise the new worker, and perhaps also to pay and better health benefits) and loses just 17 percent of temporary workers and/or overtime for other workers its workforce each year. A 2000 study by the Coca Cola to pick up the slack before a new worker is hired.

24 Retailing Research Council estimated that — due to the more costly problem [for employers] than its high turnover rates — “the annual cost of employee productivity-reducing partner, absenteeism.” A 2003 turnover in the supermarket industry exceeds the Cornell University study estimated that presen- entire industry’s annual profit.” teeism costs U.S. employers $180 billion every year. Providing paid leave while workers recover after 2. Paid sick days also limit the spread of flu childbirth or care for a seriously ill relative can also and other contagious illnesses to other reduce costly turnover costs. According to U.S. employees. On average, employees who show up Department of Labor data, 92 percent of new mothers for work with the flu infect 1.8 of every 10 nearby who receive pay during their maternity leaves return to co-workers, and each incidence of flu leads to an their old jobs; only 8 percent quit. But among those average of two missed workdays and at least one receiving no pay during maternity leaves, 20 percent more day of sub-par productivity. don’t return to work.

In addition to reducing turnover, offering flexibili- 3. By sharply improving the mental health of ty and paid time off rewards employers in others ways. employees, enhanced workplace flexibility reduces the incidence of clinical depression — which is 1. Paid sick days limit the costs of “presen- a major cause of lost productivity among workers. teeism” — the loss in productivity when workers A 2003 Journal of the American Medical Association with allergies, illnesses, pain, or other medical study found that depression among workers costs problems come to work but cannot perform with U.S. employers $44 billion per year — $35.7 billion their usual efficiency. The Harvard Business Review in lost productivity on the job, and $8.3 billion in has noted that “presenteeism appears to be a much increased absenteeism among depressed workers.

A Winning Cost-Benefit Equation In addition to the general evidence that workplace flexibility saves employers money and boosts profits, focused cost-benefit analyses have found that laws requiring paid sick days and creating statewide paid family leave programs are also likely to benefit employers’ bottom line. Paid Sick Days: In 2005, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research conducted a cost-benefit analysis on a proposal from Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) to require that all employers nationwide with 15 or more employees offer seven paid sick days to all employees working 30 or more hours per week – either for their own illness or that of a child, parent, or other close relative. The study found that, if implemented, this “Healthy Families Act” would provide sick days for 46 million workers who currently don’t get them, costing employers an estimated $20.2 billion in wages, payroll taxes, and administrative expenses. At the same time, IWPR calculated that the law would save employers money by reducing presenteeism; limiting the spread of flu, and thereby reduce productivity losses caused by absenteeism; and substantially lowering job turnover rates. Together these benefits would yield savings of $28 billion for employers, IWPR estimated, eclipsing the costs they would pay to provide sick day benefits. Paid Leave: Similarly, a cost-benefit study was conducted in 2002 on a proposed version of California’s paid family leave law – the one that enabled John Maudsley to take time off work and care for his seriously premature baby in 2006. (See page 33.) The authors found that by boosting the job retention rates of workers taking family or medical leave, the program would save employers $89 million per year through reduced worker turnover. And because the California program is funded entirely through employee payroll deductions, this windfall came at no cost to the employers (other than administration).

25 4. By enhancing employees’ job satisfaction and Taxpayers and Society Benefit Too commitment to the job, workplace flexibility can Enhancing workplace flexibility also yields impor- boost productivity. In a recent study involving tant benefits for taxpayers and society — healthier and 1,400 workers, 87 percent of those surveyed (along better-educated children, stronger families, and more with 70 percent of their managers) reported that support for the elderly. workplace flexibility enhanced on-the-job produc- In addition to these obvious benefits, recent tivity. When Corporate Voices for Working research finds that: Families reviewed internal management studies Paid family leave saves babies’ lives. A recent study from 29 U.S. corporations in 2005, it found that examining the impact of paid maternity benefit pro- “individuals who have even a small measure of grams in 18 advanced nations found that providing flexibility in when and where work gets done have 10 weeks of paid family leave reduces a nation’s infant significantly greater job satisfaction, stronger com- mortality rate by 2.6 percent. In the United States, mitment to the job, and higher levels of engage- which suffers 28,000 infant deaths per year, the study ment with the company, as well as significantly implies that a universal 10-week paid parental leave lower levels of stress” — all of which lead to benefit might save more than 700 infants every year. greater productivity. Paid sick days and family leave lower welfare usage Ultimately for businesses, the bottom line on and save tax dollars. The U.S. Department of Labor’s workplace flexibility is literally the bottom line: return 2000 national worker survey found that new mothers on investment. Here, too, the evidence strongly sug- who receive any kind of pay during their maternity gests that providing workplace flexibility is a winning leaves are far less likely than mothers receiving no proposition. From 1998 to 2006, the companies listed maternity pay to end up on some form of public in Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work for assistance (Food Stamps or TANF). A 2002 study in in America” — almost all of which provide extensive California estimated that a 12-week paid family leave flexibility for workers — have seen their stock values program would result in 29,000 fewer people per year grow an average of more than 14 percent per year, receiving public assistance benefits in the state — compared with an average growth rate of just 6 percent resulting in $23 million of annual savings for state for all companies in the Fortune 500. taxpayers. Because they reduce job turnover, rules guaranteeing paid sick days to all or most workers would also reduce the need for public assistance. “I had a tough time and was sick a lot Paid family and medical leave reduces the need for nursing home admissions and the use of formal home [during my pregnancy], but I took health care for workers’ elderly parents, lowering the tax very few days off from work for fear burden required to pay for long-term care for the elderly. of losing my job. Then I was told Economists Courtney Van Houtven and Edward Norton have documented that informal care from adult chil- that if I did not come back as soon as dren significantly reduces the health care needs of the possible [after the birth], my job elderly. Specifically, a 10 percent increase in the time would be at risk.” spent on informal care — just two hours per month on average — leads to a 10 percent drop in home health Tricia Gooding, a newspaper circulation worker in care usage and an 8 percent drop in the likelihood that Portland, ME. elderly parents will enter a nursing home. Reduced use of home health care and nursing care saves taxpayers by limiting spending for Medicare and Medicaid.

26 REASON #6: Voters Want Action sleeper issue” that “both political parties ignore at their peril.” Addressing workers’ need for paid time off and flexibility When you consider public opinion, it’s hard to presents an enormous electoral opportunity for whichever disagree. In June 2007, the national polling firm Lake political party and whichever elected officials take the lead. Research Partners conducted a telephone survey of In July 2004, just as the presidential election was 1,200 voters nationwide, probing their beliefs and pref- heating up, Republican pollster Frank Luntz sat down erences on family-friendly work rules. By a ratio of 89 for an interview on PBS television. The interviewer, percent to 8 percent, surveyed voters favored “a basic David Branchaccio, asked Luntz to describe the undecided voters who would determine whether President U.S. VOTERS SUPPORT FAMILY-FRIENDLY Bush would be reelected or, instead, WORKPLACE REFORMS: John Kerry would become the 44th Results of a June 2007 Nationwide Poll of 1,200 Likely Voters president of the United States. PAID SICK DAYS FOR ALL WORKERS “First off, they tend to be female Voters response to the question: “Overall do you favor or oppose a basic labor standard that would guarantee all workers a minimum number of paid sick days to care for and not male,” Luntz said of the themselves or immediate family members?” roughly two million still-undecided Don’t Know (3%) voters living in pivotal swing states. Oppose (8%) “They tend to be younger… They tend to be working women who are both trying to raise a family and hold down a job… Favor (89%) “And I’ll tell you something about these women,” Luntz continued. “The number one issue to them is not education, it's not health care, it's not budgets, it’s not even the war… [It’s] the lack of free time. The PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE Voters response to the question: “Would you favor or oppose expanding the Family number one thing that matters to and Medical Leave Act to offer PAID family and medical leave for a set number of weeks paid for by both the employer and employee, at an average cost of $1 for the them is that they don't have the time employer per week and an average cost of $1 to the employee per week?” The that they want for their job, for their response was similar when the option was "paid for by the employee at an average cost of $2 per week.” kids, for their spouse, for themselves, Don’t Know (7%) for their friends. The issue of time matters to them more than anything Oppose (17%) else in life… “And right now no one has created … what I would call the free time Favor (76%) agenda. So it's up for grabs. Just like these swing voters are.” Luntz is not alone in this assess- ment: Democratic political consultant Tom Freedman has described the Source: Lake Research Partners struggles of “juggler families” trying to balance work and family as “a

27 labor standard that would guarantee all workers a The Right Side of History minimum number of paid sick days to care for them- In addition to these powerful polling data, history selves and/or immediate family members.” When told also suggests that work-family reform can be a potent the details of a paid sick days law currently before political issue. Congress, the polled voters supported the proposal by During the 1992 presidential campaign, candidate a similarly overwhelming margin (87 to 10). Bill Clinton highlighted his support for family and In the poll, voters also expressed overwhelming medical leave legislation in virtually every stump support — 76 percent in favor; 17 percent opposed — speech. Karen Kornbluh, a former Clinton administra- for expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act to tion official and a leading advocate for stronger family provide income for workers out on family or medical leave legislation, recalls that the need for family and leave funded through contributions of $2 per week per medical leave was candidate Clinton’s “best applause employee shared by workers and their employers. (By line.” Clinton and his running mate, Al Gore, frequent- an almost identical margin, voters also supported paid ly derided President Bush for vetoing the FMLA bill leave if the $2 per week is paid entirely by workers.) approved by Congress both in 1990 and again in late September 1992, just six weeks before election day, “The presence or absence of flexibili- arguing that a president who cares about family values ty may be more critical for lower needs to “show that he values families.” Stung by the criticism, Bush issued his own last- wage workers than other employees minute family leave proposal, encouraging (but not because [it] can mean the difference requiring) employers to provide leave and offering tax between keeping or losing one’s job, credits to help small businesses whose employees take leave. But the proposal generated little public enthusi- economic security, or poverty.” asm. When election day arrived, Clinton strode to vic- tory thanks in large part to his majority support from married women — a key swing voting group. He signed As the table on page 29 illustrates, a host of other FMLA into law just three weeks after taking office. recent polls have yielded similar outcomes both at the Today, balancing work and family remains a seri- state level and nationally. In every survey, a strong ous personal concern for most voters. In this age of majority of voters say that every employee should be political polling, campaigns strive every day to win vot- entitled to sick days, and that government should ers to the belief that their candidate “cares about voters require employers to provide them. Though women like me.” are more supportive than men, minorities are more What better way to earn voters’ trust than to show supportive than whites, and low-income voters are concern for their struggles to care for their families more supportive than those with higher incomes, a while doing their jobs? What better chance to earn majority of voters in virtually every demographic sup- voters’ goodwill than to promote workable solutions to port a guarantee of paid sick days. Likewise, a strong the ubiquitous time squeeze? What better opportunity majority of voters believe that so long as the costs are to be on the right side of history and to cement a borne at least partly by workers or government, rather working family voter base for a generation? than employers alone, all workers should be entitled It’s About Time! to paid leave to bond with a newborn child or care for a seriously ill family member.

28 VOTERS WANT ACTION: Other Recent Public Opinion Surveys on Paid Sick Days and Paid Family and Medical Leave National Polling Organization Year Question Percentage Support Wall Street Journal 2007 Favor a proposal “requiring all employers 80% Online/Harris Interactive to provide paid sick time based upon the number of hours the employee has worked during that year.”

National Council for 2006 More likely or less likely to support a By a 3:1 ratio, voters more Research on Women candidate who supports a law requiring likely to support candidate employers to provide paid sick days for who favors paid sick days all workers policy

Peter Hart Research 2004 Require employers to provide 77% of all voters Associates and Wirthlin paid sick days 81% of low-wage workers Worldwide

Lake Snell Perry & 2002 Believe it’s “very important” or Working women: 88% Associates “somewhat important” to strengthen Men: 85% family and medical leave laws

State and Local State Year Question Percentage Support Washington State 2007 Support a statewide insurance program to 73% provide partial wage replacement for workers on family and medical leave

New Jersey 2006 Support a statewide insurance program to 78% provide 12 weeks of partial wage replacement for workers on family and medical leave

New York City 2006 Support a law requiring employers to 70% provide at least seven paid sick days for all full-time workers

New York City 2006 Favor a new program offering up to 69% 12 weeks of paid leave for workers caring for a new baby, newly adopted child, or seriously ill family member

Wisconsin 2006 Favor a law requiring all employers to 80% provide at least one week of paid sick days each year

Maryland 2006 Favor a new requirement that “workers 85% should be allowed to use their sick days to care for their families”

California 2003 Workers should be guaranteed a portion 85% of their pay when they’re out on family or medical leave

29 After needing bed-rest during the last two months of her pregnancy, Corean Todd was ordered back to work by her employer just 18 days after the birth of her child. Part Three: A Policy Agenda to Promote Flexible, Family-Friendly Workplaces

American workers want, American families need, have allowed workers in these other advanced nations and the American economy can easily afford a set of to avoid many of the conflicts between job and family minimum basic standards for family-friendly work. that commonly plague American workers. Working parents need the opportunity to take a Here in the United States, advocates are seeking a few weeks off after the birth of a child without losing much more modest set of minimum standards — rules their entire income, and they need the freedom to take that would have little or no affect on the many a paid day off on occasion when their child gets the employers who already provide some time off and flex- flu. The American economy can easily afford to grant ibility for their workers, but would assure that employ- workers the right to partially paid leave when a new ers who are out of step with American values move child arrives or an elderly parent falls ill or needs care onto a level playing field. after a surgery. In fact, the latest research suggests that Specifically, a minimum standard for workplace government rules requiring paid sick days and paid flexibility would include four core elements: family or medical leave boost productivity and save (1) guarantee a minimum number of paid sick days employers more in reduced turnover and “presen- for all workers; teeism” than they cost in lost pay and work output.

Our values demand reform, voters overwhelmingly (2) increase the share of workers guaranteed cover- support reform. It’s about time. age under the Family and Medical Leave Act by extending the law’s provisions to more employers; Defining a Minimum Standard for Workplace Flexibility — A Modest (3) establish family and medical leave insurance Proposal programs that provide full or partial pay for needy workers while they’re out on leave to recover from In Europe and throughout the advanced industrial an illness or to care for a new child or seriously ill world, workers can rely on a host of benefits and pro- relative; and tections to balance their work and family lives far beyond those available to most Americans. Other than (4) guarantee working parents the right to take a the United States, every advanced industrial nation few hours off work each year to participate in par- provides extended leave for new parents — anywhere ent-teacher conferences and other events at their from 14 weeks to three years — along with continuing children’s schools. income and/or a generous maternity benefit. Every advanced nation guarantees paid vacation and holidays In addition to these minimum standards, Congress for its workers (often four to six weeks per year), along (or state legislatures) should seriously consider a new with a generous allotment of paid sick days. No law granting workers the right to formally request flexi- advanced nation except the United States follows the ble work schedules from their employers — a process “at-will” employment standard allowing employers to that has proven highly successful in the United fire workers for any reason or no reason with or with- Kingdom since it was enacted in 2003. And over time, out any advanced notice or severance pay. several other steps would also be beneficial for families. While the economic impact of those work rules is PRIORITY RECOMMENDATION #1: subject to debate among economists, these expansive Paid Sick Days rules have not ground the economies of other A sensible law to ensure paid sick days should advanced nations to a halt or prevented their citizens include several features: from maintaining a decent standard of living. The laws 31 ■ A meaningful but limited number of days for all This change would extend FMLA protection to an addi- full-time workers. For instance, Senator Edward tional 13 million workers nationwide. In addition, Kennedy’s proposed Healthy Families Act would Congress should extend leave protections to part-time require seven days per year for full-time workers — workers on a pro-rated basis and grant limited leave enough to see workers through an illness or two rights to workers once they have been with an employ- each year without presenting a major financial bur- er for 90 days. den to employers. Also, Congress should expand the uses of FMLA by allowing workers to take job-protected leave to care for ■ The right to use sick days not only when work- domestic partners, adult children, spouses’ parents and ers become ill themselves, but also to care for a children, grandparents, and grandchildren. The current sick child or relative or to attend prenatal check- guidelines — which allow FMLA coverage only for a ups, pediatric appointments, and other routine child, spouse, or parent — do not reflect the sometimes medical appointments. complex composition of American families. ■ Proportionate benefits for part-time employees. PRIORITY RECOMMENDATION #3: Just like full-time workers, those working part-time Family and Medical Leave Insurance can ill afford to lose all their income or face sanc- The second major weakness of FMLA has been the tions from their employers when they miss work lack of any provision to pay employees while they’re for medical reasons. out on family or medical leave. Of the estimated 3.5 ■ Consideration for very small employers. Though business advocates argue that employers with very Family and Medical Leave Act: few workers will have a hard time meeting the BOON FOR WORKERS’ HEALTH obligation of a paid sick day law, workers in small BENIGN FOR EMPLOYERS’ Sick Days More than enterprises should not be left unprotected. However, COMPETITIVENESSRequired 10 Days/Year paid sick day laws can be written to limit the Positive Outcomes of Effects of Using FMLA impact on our smallest businesses. Percent of Leave-Takers Stating that Leave Had a Positive Effect on Physical Health

PRIORITY RECOMMENDATION #2: Effect on Employee’s or Broader FMLA Coverage Family Member’s Physical Health Over the past 14 years, the Family and Medical Quicker recovery time 83.7% Easier to comply with Leave Act has enabled millions of workers to take need- doctor’s instructions 93.5% ed time away from work to care for new children or Delayed/avoided need to cope with medical emergencies. But the law’s inadequa- enter nursing home or other long-term care facility 32.0% cies have always been apparent. Chief among them are Other effects 17.0% restrictive eligibility rules that leave nearly half of all Number of Leave-Takers Stating workers nationwide uncovered — particularly the rule that Leave had a Positive Effect that excludes employers with fewer than 50 workers. on Physical Health 14,513,291 As a first step to expanding coverage, Congress should extend the provisions of FMLA to employers Benign Effects of FMLA on Employers Percent of Employers Stating that Complying with FMLA with 25 or more workers. A 25-person operation is large Had Positive Effect or No Noticeable Effect enough to sustain operations smoothly if a worker goes Productivity 83.6% on leave, and large enough to handle the modest Profitability 90.2% administrative burdens imposed by FMLA. (In the most Growth 90.3% recent national survey, virtually none of the employers Source: Balancing the Needs of Families and Employers: Family and with 50 to 250 workers reported a serious negative Medical Leave Surveys, 2000 Update, Westat, 2001. impact from FMLA on either productivity or profits.) 32 million workers nationwide who needed family or While other proposals employ alternative mecha- medical leave in the previous 18 months but didn’t nisms to pay for family and medical leave insurance, take it, more than three-fourths cited lack of pay as the the core concept is simple and appealing: reason. Moreover, 37 percent of workers who did take ■ Workers who qualify for and take parental or FMLA leave cut short their leaves because they couldn’t family leave receive partial or full pay for a limited afford to continue. number of weeks. Family and medical leave protection remains an empty promise for those who cannot afford to forego ■ This pay is financed through a central, govern- their paychecks. But many employers would be hard- ment-administered funding pool like unemploy- pressed to continue paying workers on extended leave. ment compensation, workers compensation, or Fortunately, there’s another option: leave insurance. state-run temporary disability programs, with For decades, a handful of states (California, Hawaii, employees funding all or part of the costs through New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island) have operated payroll deductions. Some plans also include temporary disability programs providing partially paid employer contributions and/or taxpayer subsidies. leave for workers needing time away from work to ■ The paid leave is available for a worker’s own recover from medical conditions, including pregnancy medical leave, and also to care for a new child or complications and childbirth. In 2004, California ill family member. expanded its program to provide up to six weeks of partial pay for workers requiring leave to care for a new Through this simple approach, our society can pro- baby, adopted child, or seriously ill family member. vide workers who need time away from work to cope California funded this family leave program entirely with health emergencies the financial support they through employee contributions, deducting an average need at little or no cost to employers and only a small of just $2.25 per worker per month. cost to workers.

A Right to Request Flexible Schedules How else can we help workers better reconcile their work duties with their family responsibilities while not imposing costly burdens on employers? In 2003, Great Britain pioneered an innovative win-win approach, known as the “right to request.” The new law gives workers with young children the right to ask their employers permission to change their work schedules – to reduce their hours, work a compressed work week (e.g., four ten-hour days rather than five eight-hour days), change the time they begin and end their workday (flex-time), or work from home on occasion. In their requests, workers must explain how the new schedule would work and how any inconveniences created by their new schedules could be addressed. Employers must meet with the worker and, if they reject the request, explain why the proposal would impose costs or harm the business. By 2005, two years after the right to request became law, 22 percent of parents with young children (some 800,000 working parents) had requested a change in their work arrangements. Remarkably, 81 percent of these requests were granted fully or partly, and 80 percent of workers making requests said they were now satisfied or very satisfied with their work arrangements. Meanwhile, employers in the United Kingdom have given the new law favorable reviews. In a 2005 survey, only 14 percent of employers criticized the law as “unnecessary red tape,” while more than half said they had seen direct business benefits from the “right to request” law. A large majority (71 percent) of employers reported that it was easy to comply with the new rules. In 2007, the United Kingdom expanded the right to request to workers who are caring for ill or disabled adults.

33 More Ideas for the Future

The four priority recommendations, plus a “right tion regardless of the number of hours worked. to request” law, offer an excellent beginning toward Specifically, a new parity for part-time worker creating a minimum standard of workplace flexibility rule should be enacted requiring employers to for America’s workers. pay workers a pro-rated share of the salary and But, even if all these laws were enacted nation- benefits they would earn as full-time workers. wide, many workers would still face impossible choices ■ Invest in new public education efforts and cre- in their struggle to manage work and family — choices ate new incentives to encourage the adoption of no worker should have to make. Following are a pro-family work policies. The Center for Law and handful of additional rule changes that will ultimate- Social Policy has recommended a national ly be needed to ensure that family values fully pene- awards program to recognize businesses that trate the workplace and that workers are spared the adopt family-friendly business practices; a public dilemma of choosing between the jobs they need and information campaign and website to popularize the families they love. the need for and benefits of flexible work sched- ■ Ensure FMLA protection for all workers. While ules; and tax credits to reward businesses for extending FMLA rules to employers with 25 to 49 adopting family-friendly schedule and benefits workers is an important first step, such a change policies. The Progressive Policy Institute has rec- will still leave millions of workers without a right ommended that Congress establish a “Workplace to job-protected leave. Over time, Congress 2020” project to research and promote family- should require all employers to abide by FMLA. friendly workplace practices.

■ Guarantee new mothers the right to take ■ Replace the “at-will” employment standard with breaks in order to breastfeed their babies or one requiring “just cause” for dismissal. Currently, express milk with a breast pump, provided they when workers are fired, they have no standing to either make up the missed time or lose pay for protest unless they have a collective bargaining missed work time. And require larger employers agreement, or when their dismissal is motivated to make private space available for workers to by unlawful discrimination. Remove barriers to breastfeed or pump. The health benefits of workers’ right to organize and bargain collectively. breastfeeding are well documented and consider- ■ Add “family responsibility” to categories such able – both for babies and mothers. A few states, as race and gender protected under anti-discrimi- including California, Georgia, and Tennessee, nation law. In May 2007, the Equal Employment already have such a rule, but this opportunity Opportunity Commission issued an “enforce- should be available nationwide. ment guidance” on “unlawful disparate treat- ■ Restrict employers’ use of “mandatory over- ment of workers with caregiving responsibilities.” time” either by allowing workers to refuse it, But the guidance made clear that discrimination or by setting limits on the number of hours, against caregivers is illegal only if it is rooted in requirements for advance notice, and procedures racial or gender bias. Existing law “does not pro- to resolve disputes when overtime conflicts with hibit discrimination based solely on parental or family needs. No worker should be punished or other caregiver status,” EEOC explained. This fired for leaving work at the end of their sched- legal gap needs to close. Our laws should not uled workday when staying would conflict with permit employers to base hiring, pay, and pro- their family responsibilities. motion decisions on stereotypes about the dedication and commitment of working parents ■ End the penalty in pay and benefits faced by and caregivers. part-time workers by ensuring equal compensa- 34 PRIORITY RECOMMENDATION #4: Families Act, which had never received a hearing when Support for School Success it was proposed in 2004 and reintroduced in 2005, The research evidence is overwhelming: one of the moved front and center on the legislative calendar. most powerful predictors of children’s success in school Kennedy held hearings about the bill on February 13, is the active involvement of their parents. Yet millions 2007 — just six weeks into the new congressional session. of parents are unable to get off work to attend parent- Senator Chris Dodd, one of the Family and teacher conferences, volunteer or participate in school Medical Leave Act’s original sponsors in 1993, has activities even occasionally, show up for their chil- introduced bills to expand FMLA’s reach in every con- dren’s school sports events or performances, or hurry gressional session since 1995 — to little effect. But to meet with school counselors when their child is once Dodd took over as chair of a Senate subcommit- involved in a disciplinary incident. tee on children and families, his proposals began gen- The problem has an easy, low-cost solution: grant erating momentum — including support from one of workers the right to take a limited number of hours or the Senate’s most conservative members, Republican days of FMLA leave each year to participate in school Ted Stevens of Alaska. Together, Dodd and Stevens activities. Ten states have enacted this type of law, have proposed a family leave insurance program that guaranteeing working parents the right to anywhere would provide up to eight weeks of partial pay for from 8 to 40 hours per year to attend school activities. workers who need family or medical leave but can’t afford unpaid leave. In separate legislation, Dodd will Igniting the Engine of Reform propose to expand family leave coverage by requiring employers with 25-49 employees to begin complying After years of inaction, state and national political leaders with FMLA. are picking up the mantle of work-family policy reform. Over the 14 years and seven national election Despite the compelling, affordable, cycles following the 1992 elections, when Bill Clinton cost-effective policy solutions avail- made his support for family leave legislation (and President Bush’s opposition) a central plank in his able, no major legislation passed drive to the presidency, time to care receded into the either house of Congress between background as a political issue. 1993 and 2006. Despite the deep and growing work-family struggles faced by millions of working families, despite the compelling, affordable, cost-effective policy solutions available, no major legislation passed either house of New Media Attention. Together, the San Congress during this period. None came close. While Francisco sick days law and this renewed interest in promising grassroots action campaigns arose in a num- Congress has prompted a swirl of attention from major ber of states and began building momentum, few real- media outlets — the first time in years that the news ized major legislative victories before the votes were industry has focused on government’s potential role in counted across the nation on Election Day 2006. helping American’s ease the work-family squeeze. Since Then, suddenly the issue came alive. the 2006 elections, the Washington Post and New York In San Francisco, a referendum mandating paid Times have run prominent stories about paid sick days sick days for all workers citywide was approved by 61 and family leave, as have CNN, CBS, and ABC televi- percent of city voters — creating the first paid sick day sion networks. In May 2007, PBS stations nationwide law in the nation. devoted an hour of prime time to a documentary As Senator Edward Kennedy became chairman of entitled “The Motherhood Manifesto,” which explored the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions the problems of working moms striving to balance job Committee following the 2006 election, the Healthy and family. 35 A Tipping Point for State Action. Arguably policies. Relying on the experience they gained and the most important action on work-family issues has coalitions they built in prior legislative sessions, several been taking place at the state level. Since 2002, grass- state-level campaigns pushed ambitious proposals roots campaigns have come together in a dozen or through their legislatures. more states to pursue state-level policy on behalf of In March, Washington State passed a family leave time-squeezed workers. These campaigns have different insurance program guaranteeing up to five weeks of roots, different champions, and different strategies, and partially paid leave to new parents — becoming the their legislative accomplishments prior to 2007 were second state (after California) to offer workers this cru- fairly modest. Only one state — California, with its cial, family-friendly benefit. Initially, the proposal also paid family and medical leave insurance program — provided paid leave for workers to care for seriously ill enacted a law guaranteeing either paid sick days or family members as well, but the bill was scaled back paid family and/or medical leave to all or most workers during the legislative process. statewide. In New York, newly elected Governor Eliot Spitzer Several of the campaigns did enact lesser reforms, has lobbied hard for a new paid leave program that and several recruited legislative allies and built substan- would offer 12 weeks of partial pay (50 percent of tial momentum toward passage of more ambitious legis- weekly pay, up to a maximum of $170 per week) to lation. In 2005, Maine passed a law requiring employers workers on family or medical leave. The proposal has with at least 25 employees to allow workers with paid strong backing in the State Assembly, but as of August sick days to use the days to care for a sick family mem- 2007, it faces an uncertain future in the State Senate. ber, not just when they have an illness themselves. In New Jersey, which had narrowly defeated a Colorado, Georgia, Wisconsin, and several other states proposed family leave insurance proposal in 2005, considered proposals in 2005 and 2006 assuring workers Governor Jon Corzine has endorsed an more expansive the right to limited time off to attend parent-teacher family and medical leave insurance proposal that would conferences and other events at their children’s schools. replace two-thirds of workers’ pay (up to $502 per week) for up to 10 weeks. The bill cleared two committees of New rules would have little or no the state senate in 2007, and will be taken up by the full state senate and the state assembly in 2008. affect on the many employers who Paid leave insurance proposals are also pending in already provide some time off and Illinois, Massachusetts, and Texas. In Oregon, a paid flexibility for their workers. New family and medical leave bill cleared the state house. But on very the last day of the legislative session in rules would assure that employers June 2007, the bill fell one vote short of passing the who are out of step with American state senate and becoming law. values move onto a level playing In the District of Columbia, a proposal requiring all employers to provide up to 10 paid sick days to field. all workers citywide was introduced with unanimous support in May 2007. With every member of the city State legislators in Illinois, Massachusetts, New council as a co-sponsor, the rule is almost certain to Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington State all pass in 2007 and will likely take effect in 2008. submitted bills proposing some form of insurance pro- New paid sick days proposals are also being debat- gram to provide several weeks of partial pay for workers ed in the legislatures of Connecticut, Maine, needing to take family or medical leave. Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, and Vermont. These state-level efforts began to achieve critical In Ohio, the Service Employees International Union is mass in 2007 as state campaigns capitalized on the undertaking a signature campaign to place a referen- national mood shift in favor of family-friendly work dum for paid sick days on the November 2008 state 36 ballot. A recent poll found that two-thirds of Ohio 19 (all except the United States) offer both paid sick days voters would support the measure. A similar campaign and paid family and medical leave. Second, the industries is taking place in the city of Milwaukee. with the poorest records of providing sick days and other flexible work conditions in the United States — food serv- Conclusion: Why Not Protect and ice, construction, retail trade — are not subject to interna- Support Our Nation’s Families? tional competition. On the other hand, many U.S.-based

Improved prospects for federal action, renewed multinational corporations routinely provide flexible media attention, and substantial progress for family- work benefits to foreign workers employed in their over- friendly work guarantees at the state level are all seas offices and production facilities. welcome developments and long overdue. “Many employees will abuse whatever leave Looking forward, the challenge will be to sustain they are given.” National data show that workers this momentum and transform it into lasting change receiving paid sick days take an average of 1.8 days per in our nation’s social contract around work and family. year, just one-half day more per year than workers with Few children today have the luxury of a stay-at-home no paid sick days. Likewise, passage of the Family and parent, and millions of workers must care for elderly Medical Leave Act has not resulted in a substantial and disabled relatives. Yet, family needs still weigh less increase in leave-taking by U.S. workers. While it is heavily in our nation’s laws than employers’ right to likely that some individual workers may abuse new fire workers at their whim, deny workers any and all leave provisions, a far greater abuse would be to allow paid time off, demand overtime at a moment’s notice, employers to continue denying millions of workers the and reject out of hand any request for reduced or part- occasional paid time they need to care for themselves time hours from workers — even when a family’s and their families when they or a family member falls health and safety are at stake. ill or a serious health crisis strikes. When new worker protections are proposed, defenders of the status quo commonly put forth several “Business owners don’t need government telling arguments to refute them. But their claims ring hollow. them what to do.” With all due respect, history demonstrates that, on occasion, employers really do “Requiring employers to provide sick days and need government telling them what to do. When family/medical leave will increase the cost of employer behavior endangers the public health or con- hiring and destroy jobs.” In fact, providing sick tradicts the basic values of society, voters want govern- days and family/medical leave insurance substantially ment to step in and establish standards: banning child reduces job turnover as well as lost productivity when labor abuses, ensuring a safe and healthy workplace, employees come to work sick (and infect other employ- preventing discrimination against minorities and ees), both major costs to employers. Many paid leave women, outlawing sweatshop labor conditions. When insurance proposals are funded through employee pay- employers deny workers paid sick days and flexibility to roll deduction, so the cost to employers is minimal. address family emergencies, their actions conflict with Similar criticisms were leveled at the Family and public values and threaten the well-being of American Medical Leave Act when it was first proposed in the families. In this situation, government intervention late 1980s and early 1990s, but in national surveys few becomes not just appropriate but also necessary. employers have complained that FMLA presents a sig- New rules should be crafted to minimize the costs nificant drain on their profits, growth, or productivity. to business. But these concerns should not be an

“New rules requiring sick days and paid leave excuse for continued inaction. would damage our nation’s competitiveness in If we believe in family values, the global economy.” This argument is belied by two facts. First, of the 20 most competitive national it’s time to value families. economies as ranked by the World Economic Forum, 37 Part Four: Resources for Action Family Values at Work: It’s About Time!

MultiState Consortium for Ev Liebman A Better Balance Working Families New Jersey Citizen Action Sherry Leiwant 856-966-3091 212-724-1155 Ellen Bravo, National Coordinator [email protected] [email protected] 414-536-8665 www.abetterbalance.org [email protected] New York: Donna Dolan Center for Law and Social California: Communications Workers Policy (CLASP) Netsy Firestein of America, District 1 Jodie Levin-Epstein, Deputy Director Director, Labor Project for Working 212-344-7332 202-906-8003 Families [email protected] [email protected] 510-643-6814 www.clasp.org [email protected] Lisa Donner, Co-Director Center for Working Families Center for WorkLife Law Georgia: 718- 222-5754 Joan Williams, Director Cindia Cameron [email protected] 415-565-4706 Co-Chair, Georgia Working Families [email protected] Washington: Coalition www.worklifelaw.org 404-222-0077 Marilyn Watkins [email protected] Policy Director, Economic Center for Economic Opportunity Institute Policy Research Deborah Scott 205-529-6370 Heather Boushey, Economist Georgia Stand Up/GA Working [email protected] 202-293-5380 x116 Families Coalition [email protected] 404-581-0061 Wisconsin: www.cepr.net [email protected] Amy Stear WI Organizing Director, 9to5 Change to Win Massachusetts: 414-274-0923 Desiree Hoffman, Senior Ingrid Nava [email protected] Legislative Advocate Staff Attorney & Paid Sick Days Service Employees International Union Campaign Coordinator Other National 202-721-0660 Greater Boston Legal Services [email protected] 617-603-1684 Organizations [email protected] Economic Policy Institute ACORN Jared Bernstein Jen Kern, Director Maine: 202-775-8810 Living Wage Resource Center Sarah Standiford [email protected] 202-547-2500 Executive Director, Maine www.epinet.org Women’s Policy Group [email protected] 207-622-0851 www.livingwagecampaign.org Families and Work Institute [email protected] Ellen Galinsky, CEO AFL-CIO 212-465-2044 Cecelie Counts, Legislative New Jersey: [email protected] Representative Eileen Appelbaum www.familiesandwork.org Professor and Director, Center 202-637-5000 for Women and Work [email protected] Institute for Women’s Rutgers, the State University www.aflcio.org Policy Research Vicky Lovell, Director of Employment of New Jersey and Work/Life Programs 732-932-4614 202-785-5100 [email protected] [email protected] www.iwpr.org 38 McGill Institute for Health Other State and Maryland: and Social Policy Local Campaigns ACORN – see p. 38. Dr. Jody Heymann, Founding Director California: Jason Perkins-Cohen 514-398-1715 Sonya Mehta Executive Director, Maryland Job [email protected] Young Workers United Opportunities Task Force www.mcgill.ca/ihsp 510-754-3021 410-234-8040 [email protected] Moms Rising [email protected] www.youngworkersunited.org Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive www.jotf.org Director Colorado: Montana: 206-226-4126 Linda Meric Senator Christine Kaufmann [email protected] Colorado 9to5 Montana Human Rights Network www.MomsRising.org 303-628-0925 406-442-5506 x12 [email protected] National Employment Law Center [email protected] www.9to5.org Maurice Emsellem, Staff Attorney www.mhrn.org 510-663-5700 Connecticut: New Mexico: [email protected] Sharon Patterson-Stallings Susan Loubet www.nelp.org Chair, Connecticut ACORN Executive Director National Partnership for [email protected] New Mexico Women's Agenda Women & Families 505-281-5603 Teresa C. Younger Kate Kahan, Director of Work and [email protected] Executive Director, Permanent Family Programs Commission on the Status of Women 202-986-2600 North Carolina: 860-240-8300 [email protected] Louisa Warren [email protected] www.nationalpartnership.org Senior Policy Advocate www.cga.ct.gov/PCSW North Carolina Justice Center New America Foundation 919-856-2175 DC: David Gray, Director, Workforce [email protected] Karen Minatelli and Family Program www.ncjustice.org Director of Policy 202-986-2700 D.C. Employment Justice Center [email protected] Ohio: 202-828-9675 x 16 www.newamerica.net Gloria Fauss [email protected] Asst. to the President for Political Affairs www.dcejc.org 9to5, National Assoc. SEIU District 1199 OH/WV/KY of Working Women 614-324-7401 Illinois: Linda Meric, Executive Director [email protected] Melissa Josephs 303-628-0925 www.seiu1199.org [email protected] Director of Equal Opportunity Policy Women Employed www.9to5.org Pennsylvania: 312-782-3902 X234 Carol Goertzel [email protected] Progressive States Network Director, Pathways PA www.womenemployed.org Nathan Newman, Policy Director 610-543-5022 212-680-3116 [email protected] Madison, Wisconsin: [email protected] www.pathwayspa.org www.progressivestates.org Vicky Selkowe Attorney/Organizer Vermont: Healthy Families, Healthy City Take Care Net Sheila Reed Coalition Robert Drago, Co-chair of Advocacy Coordinator 608-772-6046 Steering Committee Voices for Vermont’s Children [email protected] 814-883-9907 802-229-6377 [email protected] [email protected] www.takecarenet.org www.voicesforvermontschildren.org

39 Publications Kornbluh, Karen. “Families Valued: Ross Phillips, Katherin. Getting Time of Interest Creating a Twenty-First Century Social Off: Access to Leave Among Working Insurance System for Today’s ‘Juggler Parents. Urban Institute. 2004. Bond, James T., Ellen Galinsky, and Families.’” Democracy Journal. Fall 2006. www.urban.org/publications/ Jeffrey E. Hill. When Work Works: A www.democracyjournal.org/article.php? 310977.html Status Report on Workplace Flexibility. ID=6484 Stockwell, Michele. Flexible Work for IBM and the Families and Work Kornbluh, Karen. Win-Win Flexibility. Strong Families. Progressive Policy Institute. 2004. http://familiesand- New America Foundation. June 2005. Institute. September 2006. www. work.org/3w/research/downloads/ www.newamerica.net/files/archive/Doc_ ppionline.org/documents/Family_ status.pdf File_2436_1.pdf Agenda_111506.pdf Boots, Shelley Waters. The Way We Levin-Epstein, Jodie. Getting Punched: 10 Things That Could Happen to You If Work: How Children and Their Families The Job and Family Clock. Center You Didn’t Have Paid Sick Days. 9to5, Fare in a 21st Century Workplace. for Law and Social Policy. 2006. National Association of Working New America Foundation. 2004. www.clasp.org/publications/getting Women. No date. www.9to5.org/ www.newamerica.net/files/archive/ _punched_fullnotes.pdf downloads/booklet.pdf Doc_File_2146_1.pdf Lovell, Vicky. No Time To Be Sick: Why Where Families Matter: State Progress Bravo, Ellen. Quality Part-Time Everyone Suffers When Workers Don’t Toward Valuing America’s Families. Options in Wisconsin. 9to5, National Have Paid Sick Leave. Institute for National Partnership for Women & Association of Working Women. 2005. Women’s Policy Research. 2004. Families. 2007. www.nationalpartner- www.9to5.org/downloads/9- www.iwpr.org/pdf/B242.pdf ship.org/site/DocServer/Final_2006_ 5PTreport.pdf Round_Up.pdf?docID=2161 Lovell, Vicky. Valuing Good Health: Dodson, Lisa, Tiffany Manuel, An Estimate of Costs and Savings Williams, Joan C. One Sick Child Away and Ellen Bravo. Keeping Jobs and for the Healthy Families Act. Institute From Being Fired: When Opting Out Is Not Raising Families in Low-Income America: for Women’s Policy Research. 2005. an Option. Center for Work Life Law. UC It Just Doesn’t Work. The Radcliffe www.iwpr.org/pdf/B248.pdf Hastings College of the Law. 2006. Public Policy Center. 2002. www.uchastings.edu/site_files/WLL/ www.9to5.org/keepingjobsreport “Mother Load: Why Can’t America onesickchild.pdf Have a Family-Friendly Workplace?” Enforcement Guidance: Unlawful Disparate The American Prospect (Special Issue). Williams, Joan C., Jessica Manvell, Treatment of Workers With Caregiving March 2007. http://tapdev.browser and Stephanie Bornstein. “Opt Out” or Responsibilities. Equal Opportunity media.com/cs/archive/view_report? Pushed Out?: How the Press Covers Employment Commission. May 23, reportId=1 Work/Family Conflict. Center for Work 2007. www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/ Life Law. UC Hastings College of the caregiving.html Reed, Patricia S., and Shirley M. Clark. Law. 2006. www.uchastings.edu/ Win-Win Workplace Practices: Improved Heymann, Jody, Alison Earle, and site_files/WLL/OptOutPushedOut.pdf Organizational Results and Improved Jeffrey Hayes. The Work, Family, and Quality of Life. U.S. Department of Labor Working Sick, Getting Stiffed: How Some Equity Index: How Does the United States Women’s Bureau. September 2004. of America’s Biggest Companies Fail Their Measure Up? Institute for Health and www.choose2lead.org/Publications/ Workers and Jeopardize Public Health. Social Policy. 2007. Study%20on%20Win-Win%20/ Association of Community www.mcgill.ca/files/ihsp/WFEI2007.pdf Workplace%20Practices.pdf Organizations for Reform Now. 2007. Kaiser Family Foundation. Women Work www.acorn.org/fileadmin/PaidSickLeave Rosen, Ruth. “The Care Crisis.” and Family Health: A Balancing Act, Issue /User_Storage/PDF/Final_PSD_study.pdf The Nation. March 12, 2007 issue. Brief. April 2003. www.kff.org/women www.thenation.com/doc/20070312/ shealth/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/ rosen security/getfile.cfm&PageID=14293

40 ABOUT THIS REPORT Family Values at Work: It's About Time is a product of the MultiState Working Families Consortium, a partnership of coalitions in eight states seeking to reform workplace rules in ways that support families and benefit workers and their employers. The report was edited by Ellen Bravo, coordinator of the MultiState Consortium, with input from consortium steering committee members, especially Eileen Appelbaum and Sarah Standiford.

The report was written by Richard A. Mendel, an independent writer and researcher specializing in poverty-related issues in youth development, community economic development, and family economic success. From 2001 through 2005, he served as editor of AdvoCasey, the policy magazine of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Family Values at Work: It's About Time is being published in conjunction with ACORN; AFL-CIO; A Better Balance; Center for Law and Social Policy; Moms Rising; The National Partnership for Women and Families; 9to5, National Association of Working Women; National Employment Law Project; Service Employees International Union; and Take Care Net.

Research and production of Family Values at Work was funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. We thank them for their support but acknowledge that the findings and conclusions presented in this report are those of the authors alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Foundation. We particularly thank Wendy Chun-Hoon and Connie Dykstra for their invaluable contributions to the report.

Design and Production: Anne Clewell Graphic Design, Baltimore, Maryland; Photography: Leita Cowart, Paul Gachot, Richard Mendel, Stephen B. Thornton; Printing: Woodberry Graphics, Hunt Valley, Maryland.

For more information, contact: Ellen Bravo, coordinator MultiState Working Families Consortium 414-536-8665 [email protected] September 2007